Kiss Me or Kill Me
by EternalLove
Summary: Kagome is forced to attend Prince Inuyasha's wants during his stay in the higurashi kingdom for marriage negotiations between kagome and his brother Sesshoumaru. The next thing you know Kagome is on the run with Sesshoumaru at her heels, hunting her down.
1. The Assassin

Author's Notes: First off, this is a sess/kag, no matter how inu/kag it may be, I'm a sess/kag fan and that's usually what I write (sorry if I throw u off). Second, I honestly never meant to do another storyline, but here I am, over ten stories left to finish and now I get to add another to my ever growing piles. Writing is a vicious cycle....  
  
Kiss me or Kill Me  
  
Chapter 1: The Assassin

* * *

She faltered, her fingers slipping on the waxed strings and a sharp sound slit the trailing music that had smoothly danced up to the ceiling. The string stood curled in the air, an unwanted flaw in the perfection of her reality. Nevertheless, a rhythmic wave of applause filled the air and with a flawless bow she swiftly exited the room, leaving behind her humiliation. Silently, her personal maid appeared and walked alongside her mistress, looking at the corner of her eyes to gauge the expression on the princess's face. It was stoic and betrayed nothing, but years of practice had taught her to read through a court mask of indifference.  
  
Hesitantly, the maid tried to give a smile of assurance but the smile went unseen as the princess turned quickly around a corner, her skirts flaring behind in warning. The maid gave a small nod of understanding and whirled around the other direction to follow the orders that had been wordlessly given. Leaving her maid, the princess continued to stalk down the hallway and outside to the stables. Without a care to the expensive fabric of her clothes, she hopped on to a horse and sprinted outside the stable without a saddle. Ten miles later she ceased her ragged galloping and jumped off the horse. After carefully looking around, she took a deep breath and readied herself for the oncoming storm that was ready to erupt.  
  
"AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
She screamed until her lungs were ready to burst, her arms tight at the sides. She quickly sucked in oxygen and flopped to the ground, flinging her arms and legs out and peered up at the fading blue sky. The embarrassment her parents must have had! She knew she was in for a lecture once she returned home and it would be the same redundant words. All the nobles must have been sniggering amongst themselves after she had quickly excused herself. It was the most crucial day of the year and of course, what important day couldn't be complete with her somehow ruining a special moment in it? She flung an arm over her face to block out the warm sun and gave a loud groan. That sharp sound had echoed everywhere in the immense room and nobody could have missed the snap of the wire being broken. Broken wires were a bad omen...  
  
"Argh!!" She said out loud and was ready to vent another torrent of screams when a slight rumbling caught her attention. She could feel the ground shaking harder and harder and now her ears could pick up a crashing sound in the distance. Was it her father's soldiers? Did they already catch her? She quickly stood up and faced the direction of the sound, readying herself for the no nonsense captain of the royal guard. A fiery blur shot into the clearing of trees and stopped immediately in front of her. A man had suddenly appeared and had his back to her, his head moving all around the clearing. His shoulders were tense and she looked down at his hands to see....claws?  
  
"A-anoo..." She said timidly as he slowly relaxed his guard. He had the oddest features she had ever seen. Long silver locks tumbled down in disarray with a sporadic leaf hanging from several strands. He had dressed in all red, an aggressive color that quickly caught the eye. But he had turned his face away from her and she couldn't see who he was.  
  
"Are you hurt?" He said gruffly, his voice sounding like rough velvet.  
  
"N-no, why would I be?" She asked cautiously as she backed away from the stranger. He didn't have any weapons, but he had those odd claws on his hands and he could be some dangerous criminal carrying out revenge against the royal family. She took another step back, this time in fear. Was he an assassin perhaps? "Um, I have to get back now-"She whistled for her horse, which good-naturedly trotted over. She smoothly vaulted onto the horse's back and kicked its sides. "Bye!"  
  
She spurred her horse into a sprint and looked back after a few seconds. She gave a scream when she saw him sitting on the horse's rump with a bored expression on his face. Without even thinking she shoved him off her horse and kicked harder at her horse's side. Sensing her agitation, the horse ran faster, skimming the ground underneath in a dash of desperation. She looked back again to see a cloud of dust and the man sprawled on the ground. She put a hand on her chest to slow her speeding heartbeat and gave a sigh of relief as she turned to face the front once more. She had to hurry and warn her parents of an assassin on the castle grounds.  
  
The castle soon came in view and she jumped off the horse before it came to stop, hiking up her skirts and ran to her parent's quarters. They would be taking tea and getting dressed for the banquet. The guards spotted her down the hall and opened the doors for her. With a wave of gratitude she disappeared into the room and the doors closed shut behind her. With anticipation, the guards perked up their ears to listen to another bellowed lecture from the king to his rambunctious daughter.  
  
"Father! Mother! There's an assassin on the castle grounds!" She yelled as she stepped into the tearoom. She froze in her steps to see the red clothed assassin from the forest. He was holding a bag of ice against his head, his clothes dusty and torn. Her parents both had cups of tea at their lips and had frozen in their movements as well as they viewed their daughter's disheveled appearance. The man had replaced his bored expression from before with one of guarded annoyance.  
  
"WHAT have you been doing Kagome? Why is your hair so messy? And why is your dress smudged with dirt and grass? Didn't we just send you to your room to get dressed for the banquet? Have you been playing in the mud again?" Her father demanded. Her mother placed an arm on her husband's arm but the king ignored her as his face grew red with anger. "And I haven't even started on your performance earlier!"  
  
"I swear, I didn't make the string break on purpose!" She argued as a servant appeared with another chair. Her mother motioned for her to sit down and she sat with a plop, crossing her arms against her chest and slouching in her seat.  
  
"I'm talking about your treatment of the imperial prince Inuyasha! But I'll be discussing with YOU later about your musical performance." The king growled as he took a quick sip of his tea. "But we lack of time for me to properly punish you, so we will continue this discussion in a more convenient hour. Go to your room and get dressed!" He bellowed as his wife tried to calm him down.  
  
"Fine!" She said as she gave a stiff bow and turned around to go to her rooms.  
  
"Fine!" Her father replied just before the doors slammed shut. The guards stepped back into their positions and pretended to stand attentively.  
  
"What do you think?" She asked the guards as she paced back and forth before the gold enameled doors. One of them rubbed his chin while the other scratched his head.  
  
"Taking into consideration of the volume of his voice and the level of anger...I'd say hide out and play the good girl for a week or two. Or take the usual punishment he gives out." Said the guard on the right.  
  
"No, I don't think a week or two is necessary, remember last month? When she played that joke on the foreign ambassador? It took two weeks of good behavior that time. I'd say an estimate of four days, five at the most. Or, there is the usual punishment."  
  
Both nodded their heads at the last suggestion and she muttered a thanks before walking off to her room. She was putting a hand to open her door when it opened by itself and she stood face to face with herself in the rich satin of tonight's banquet. With a smile, her twin opened the door wider to let the princess in.  
  
"I had a feeling you were coming soon and waited a bit longer before meeting the king and queen." Her maid said while Kagome stripped off her dirty clothes and hopped into the bathing room. There was a loud splash as the princess stepped into the tub and promptly began to scrub her skin with the perfumed soaps set out for her.  
  
"What would I do without you Kikyo?" Kagome called out as she began to put some soap into her hair.  
  
"Well, that's what I'm here for, am I not?" The maid slowly pulled off her elbow length gloves and placed them neatly on the bed. After the jewels and the dress had been taken off, Kikyo slipped on her usual uniform and folded up her sleeves to help the princess bathe.  
  
"My father was being his usual belligerent self again." Kagome pronounced as Kikyo began drying her hair. "And was entertaining an assassin, but of course he completely ignored me, again!"  
  
"An assassin?" Kikyo asked curiously as she began to twist Kagome's hair into an stylish bun. Jeweled clasps held stray hairs in place and a fragrant rose was placed off on the side.  
  
"Well...I thought he was an assassin. He had sharp looking claws on his hands and he was able to get on my horse without me knowing!" Kagome stated as she put on her dress. "No normal person can do that."  
  
Surveying herself in the mirror, Kagome gave a snort at her elegant figure. She was raising a hand to take off a few of the clasps but her maid gently slapped her hand away.  
  
"Nuh uh, you're keeping your bangs out of your face tonight. Your parents have decided that you're at the age to start receiving suitors and thinking of getting married."  
  
Wisely, Kikyo covered her ears to wear off the intensity of Kagome's yell.  
  
"WHAT?!!!!!"  
  
Kagome was getting ready to open the doors and head for her parent's room when her maid held her back. "Kagome-hime, please wait till your father's temper wears off. You know it will only speed the marriage up if you anger him even more."  
  
The princess slumped her shoulders, defeated in the logic of her servant. Without a word, she sullenly walked out to the banquet hall. This day was not boding well.

* * *

She met her parents at the top of the stairs and gritted her teeth as she gave the customary bow. To her extreme dislike, the assassin was with them, this time in a less flamboyant color of black, though the color only added to the image of an assassin. She threw a wary glance at him and he returned the favor by pulling down the bottom lid of his right eye down with a clawed finger. Blushing in irritation, she was about to stick her tongue out when her father's voice jerked her back to reality.  
  
"Kagome!" He said, aggravated.  
  
"Ah, yes father?" She said sweetly while still keeping an eye on the assassin.  
  
"Prince Inuyasha will be escorting you to the banquet and your mother and I have decided on a suitable punishment..."  
  
"Father, please, no more manners lessons! I've had hundreds already and I know them by heart now." She begged desperately, a brief memory of her last lesson already flashing before her horror filled eyes. If she had to go through such torture again, she would break.  
  
"If you know them by heart, then perhaps you would be able to use them accordingly!" The king snapped. "And your punishment will not be manners lessons but to attend to whatever Prince Inuyasha is in need of during his stay here. If in any way he is displeased with the manner you are presenting him, I will enforce your usual punishment of manners lessons, which will very well last until the day you miraculously show respect to your betters." With another word, he led the queen down the stairs, leaving the two to stand and stare at each other.  
  
"........"  
  
"Oy, you heard your old man, let's go." The man said as he held an arm out for her to take.  
  
"Why don't YOU show some respect and address the king properly." She retorted.  
  
"Why don't YOU learn not to get into trouble." He argued back.  
  
The two stared at each other until Kagome gave an exasperated sigh and slowly placed her hand on his arm. Refusing to fraternize with a man she thought to be an assassin, she tipped her head high and made her back ramrod straight, not saying a word to him. They descended down the stairs and followed her parents to the banquet room. Servants held the door open for them and a low buzz of chatter filled the long room of tables. Silk tablecloths of dark blue, gleaming silver plates, and decorative floral arrangements graced the large room and the colorful fabrics of rich clothing added to the festive atmosphere. The man led her all the way to the front, where the royal family and guests of honor sat. With an irritated sigh, she smoothly sat in her gilded seat next to her mother and stared down at her glimmering plate. This was stupid, attending to the wants of that idiot prince who was probably planning on assassinating her parents. Well...perhaps that thought was a bit extreme, but who in the world has sharp claws on their hands?  
  
"Oy, pour me some wine." The prince demanded.  
  
"If you think for one second that I'm actually going to-"  
  
"King Hirugashiiii." The prince drawled.  
  
She gritted her teeth and roughly grabbed the pitcher of wine in front of her. Her foot searched around for the end of her long skirt and when she found it she quickly stood up. The effect was instantaneous. There was a loud rip of her skirt as she tripped and bumped into the table and her hands carelessly released the wine pitcher into Inuyasha's face.  
  
"ARRGH!!" He bellowed as he rubbed his alcohol stung eyes.  
  
"KAGOME!!!" The king bellowed as the queen dropped her face into her hands.  
  
"GASP." Went the crowd.

* * *

"This-this completely undermines all the etiquette and morals you've been teaching me!" Kagome complained desperately as she watched her belongings being placed into the room. "Not to mention what the court would say of such a immoral punishment!"  
  
"I'm afraid that your father has had the last straw Kagome. He is utterly set in this new punishment and you'll just have to bear with it till Inuyasha leaves." The queen said gently as she watched her agitated daughter.  
  
"But-but," Kagome stammered. "What does staying in his room accomplish?! And just when is he leaving?!" She pointed a finger at the said owner of the room. He gave a roll of his eyes as he surveyed the drawers and trunks being taken in.  
  
"Until the marriage negotiations are over." Inuyasha said nonchalantly.  
  
Kagome fainted dead away.

* * *

Author's Notes: Ah, please don't hate me! If I didn't get this stupid story out of me my head would have burst! Yes yes, I know I got lots of stories to finish, but some of them are on hiatus right now because I'm displeased with how a few of them are going. Does anybody want any of my stories to finish? grins 


	2. The Truth

Author's Notes: Agh, someone told me that the title was very similar to a manga called Kill Me, Kiss me. I'm sorry if it sounds similar to that but I honestly didn't know a manga with that title existed. If people are offended by this, I apologize, and if they are still offended then I'll give all credit of the title to the owner of Kill Me, Kiss Me.  
  
Kiss Me or Kill Me  
  
Chapter 2: The Truth

* * *

Muttering a long string of curses learnt from the palace servants, Kagome wiped the sweat from her forehead and proceeded to adjust her corner of the room. A small section had been curtained off for her own privacy but the amount of space given was...  
  
"Grrr." She growled again as she rammed her leg into the trunk for the third time. There was only enough room for a small cot, a trunk of clothes, and a trunk of other feminine necessities. After yelling about how her possessions took up too much space, Inuyasha had forced her to keep the barest of the bare. If this wasn't being reduced slavery, then she didn't know what to call it.  
  
"Hey girl, get me some wine!" He called out from his bed.  
  
"It's coming, you mentally deficient imbecile." She said under her breath.  
  
"I heard that." He said flatly. "You better get used to your new position because who knows how long the marriage negotiations will take. Though considering how eager your father seems to be in getting rid of you, you might get lucky."  
  
Kagome cringed and sent another prayer of intense gratitude to the gods that she wasn't getting married to Inuyasha. Ugh, not that she wanted to get hitched to some faceless stranger anyway, especially if he was anything like Inuyasha. She gave another cringe and stepped out from behind her curtain. Inuyasha was lounging on a divan by the open window with his trademark expression of boredom, one hand flung up in the air and the other on top of his head. Crossing her arms, she slowly surveyed her newest opponent of the week. At least she had one thing going for her, he was definitely not intelligent; therefore he wouldn't outwit her currently boiling schemes of destruction. She swiftly folded her sleeves back and readied herself for the day, plan "ANNIHILATE INUYASHA" was on!  
  
"Wine?" He said haughtily and Kagome could feel herself fuming. Her father said that she would attend all his needs but this was pushing it. Whoever heard of a princess being reduced to the station of a servant?  
  
"Maybe if you spent less time getting drunk and more time on the negotiations you can get rid of me sooner." She said sweetly as she picked up the pitcher of wine on the table.  
  
"Maybe if you spent less time acting like a tomboy and more time on looking decent you could get more marriage offers." He said with a snigger, which was quickly stopped short as she smacked him in the head with the wine pitcher.  
  
"Oops, sorry, I lost my concentration when I was staring at your big mouth." She drawled and poured the wine into his cup.  
  
"You did that on purpose!" He yelled and she skipped back before his hand could reach contact with her own head. "You wench!"  
  
She stuck her tongue out. "Wench, eh? Is that the best insult you can come up with, you illiterate dog!"  
  
The cup splattered the dark wine to the ground as he jumped for her. With a squeak she dove to the right and collided with the parlor chairs. She felt a sharp pain on her knee and looked to see a beautiful cut. Inuyasha grabbed her legs and she furiously kicked back and felt her foot meet soft flesh. A roar of pain from behind assured her well met target and she scrambled to stand up. An arm slinked around her waist and pulled her down again. Suddenly she was too close to Inuyasha's face and she tried to twist her arms and legs out of his hold but he had her pinned down tight. Their faces were so close that a slight adjustment of theirs heads could result in intimate contact. There was only one thing to do in a situation such as this...  
  
"RAAAPPPEEEE!!!!!!" She screeched in his face and he flung himself away from her with a white face. "RAAAPPEE!!!" She screamed again. Inuyasha wildly waved his hands, telling her to be quiet but she ignored him and continued her frenzied call. He dove on top of her again and this time covered her mouth with his hand. She struggled to bite his fingers but he pressed down harder.  
  
"Shut up you idiot! Do you want to get us both in trouble?!" He hissed as someone began to knock on the door. "It's alright, the princess just saw a- a mouse!" He called out and the knocking stopped. With a glare that could freeze fire he turned his attention back to her. She glared right back and the staring contest ensued. His own glare melted down and he rolled his eyes in a tired manner.  
  
"Aren't you afraid of me?" He asked. Her voice came out muffled through her fingers. "If I let go, you promise not to scream again?" She nodded her head and he slowly pulled his hand away. She sucked in air and he gave a warning look.  
  
"Should I have a reason to be afraid of you?" She said with her chin stuck out.  
  
"You're either very brave or very stupid. I'm betting on the latter."  
  
"Ha, your only intimidating aspect is your idiocy." She shot back.  
  
He gave her a funny look, a cross between surprise and anticipation. The look was quickly wiped away and he released his hold on her arms and legs.  
  
"My brother might have trouble breaking you down." He said slowly as he brushed dirt off his clothes.  
  
She gave a snort and grimaced when she stood up. Driblets of blood from her cut had smeared on her dress and her legs, making the small injury appear worse than it really did. She frowned at Inuyasha but he had turned his back to her. What had he meant by his brother having trouble breaking her? Did that mean his brother was some sadistic monster who already had numerous women at his beck and call to abuse? It couldn't be. Despite being the prickly and annoying man that he is, her father would never marry her to someone like that. Unless he did all his dirty work in some dark, secret dungeon? She rapped her self smartly on the head. She was being overdramatic again. Maybe she should stop reading all those adventure stories in the library. But she still thought Inuyasha looked like an assassin. With a sulking glare, she walked as smoothly as she could to the door so she could visit Kaede for some medicine.  
  
"And where do you think you're going? Servants should always tell their master where they are going." He called out.  
  
"Since 'someone' gave me a cut, I have to go get it cleaned out before it gets infected." Her hand was on the door when there was a quiet knock. She opened it to find Kikyo standing before her. How did that girl do it? She could somehow always sense when Kagome needed her the most. She gave a sigh of relief and let her in. "Thank kami you're here. Can you clean up my knee?"  
  
"OH MY GOD!!!! THERE'S TWO OF YOU!!!" Inuyasha yelled with a finger pointed at both of them.  
  
"Is that the marriage negotiator?" Kikyo whispered cautiously in Kagome ear.  
  
She gave a sad nod and sat down in the chair while Kikyo pulled out the small medicine kit she always carried around for the princess.

* * *

"You know, your maid looks more the princess than you do." Inuyasha said while Kagome cleaned the wine on the floor. She paused for a moment, her hands gripping the mop handle.  
  
"So, who cares?" She said flatly and continued her mopping. "It's not like I haven't heard that one before. I'm done."  
  
She quickly took the mop and ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her. She turned several corners until she came upon the library and stepped into her haven. Once inside, she furtively wiped the tears that had built in her eyes with her sleeves. She still couldn't believe she cried over the 'you don't look like a princess' statement. She knew Kikyo always displayed a grace and demeanor that she herself could never achieve. She had even gotten over the incident a few years back when a visiting ambassador mistook Kikyo for the princess and not her...well, almost. Yards of expensive silk and velvet couldn't hide the scrawniness of her body and jewels only overpowered her face, not adding to it.  
  
"Who cares if I'm not princess material!" She said out loud. With a heavy sigh, she flung the mop into the corner and climbed into her favorite chair, the book she had been reading still in the same spot she had left it. She was just opening the book when she felt someone staring at her. She angled her book down to see Inuyasha sitting in one of the many plush chairs placed in the immense library.  
  
"You! What are you doing here?" She said.  
  
"I'm not allowed to be in the library?" He asked as he leisurely picked up a book from a stack on the small table near him.  
  
"I didn't think you even knew what a library was." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.  
  
"Shut up." He growled as he placed the book back. "When you're done bawling your eyes out, go back to the room and help me prepare myself for the negotiation meeting."  
  
"What, you don't know how to put your pants on right?" Kagome shot back. Wait, how long had he been in the library? Had he really seen her crying? This was just what she needed, Inuyasha's pity.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
She stood up and followed him out.  
  
"And I wasn't bawling." She argued.  
  
"Yeah you were."  
  
"Were not."  
  
"Were too."  
  
At that moment, she didn't know what she wanted more; the negotiations to be over quickly so that Inuyasha could leave, or the negotiations to go slow so that the wedding date could be pushed back. Maybe Kikyo could help Inuyasha get dressed instead, there was no way she was helping him with his clothes. Come to think of it, where was Kikyo? Normally the maid was inseparable from her but she had only seen her once the entire day. As if on cue, Kikyo suddenly appeared from one of the castle's many corners with a look of deep thought on her face. Hearing footsteps, the maid looked up and her face instantly changed to its normal expression of pleasant nothingness.  
  
"Kagome-hime. Inuyasha-sama." She bowed to both.  
  
Kagome grabbed Kikyo's arm and pulled her away from Inuyasha's hearing range.  
  
"Are you alright? You looked liked you were thinking about something important." Kagome whispered. "Are any of the palace servants being mean to you?"  
  
"No, it's nothing Kagome-hime. Don't worry about me." Kikyo said.  
  
"Ok, then, would you trade spaces and attend Inuyasha for a bit? I'm dying for a ride outside and he won't let me out of his sight." Kagome begged and the maid gave a gentle smile and nodded her head.  
  
"Oy, Inuyasha, I have some problems to take care of so Kikyo will take my place for a while. Ja!" She sprinted off towards the stables before Inuyasha's mind could comprehend what just took place.  
  
"Why that little-get back here!!!!!!" Inuyasha yelled, his voice echoing in the marble hallway. "You can't escape your duty!!!"  
  
"I just did!!!" Kagome yelled back before she disappeared through a pair of doors. She picked up her speed just in case he decided to follow her and made it to the stables in record time. The head hostler tipped his hat in greeting and continued his hay stacking. Within minutes she was out on her favorite horse, skimming the broad palace grounds. She slowed down to a walk when she reached the bordering dense forest that surrounded the palace. She was nearing her favorite grove of trees when she heard voices conversing in an urgent matter. She quietly got off her horse and tied her to a tree. Then, by herself, she crept closer to the voices.  
  
"-not like we had a choice. Everything will work out according to how we planned it."  
  
Was that her father's voice??? She rarely heard it without anger or annoyance in it, but what was her father doing out in the forest?  
  
"This is a dangerous plan, your majesty."  
  
Kagome moved closer and slowly pushed a few branches aside to see her father and several high nobles talking in a group.  
  
"A plan that will work. Every angle has been covered and there's no way those Taiyoukai's will find out about this." The king spat out. "They think just two spies are enough to cover the entire palace? They underestimate us, those filthy dogs!"  
  
"And what of your daughter? Are you still planning on her marrying that prince from the south?" One of the nobles asked. "Recently, the Nagasaki king has risen in power and wealth and he is still unmarried. He might be a better deal than that child-like brat Komatari."  
  
The south? What was he talking about? The marriage negotiations were for the western kingdom, where Inuyasha was from.  
  
"Komatari may not be as wealthy, but he has the most powerful army out of all the kingdoms. Kikyo will do what she is told and the Higurashi kingdom will prevail."  
  
Her heart had completely stopped in shock...Kikyo? What did her father mean? She was the Higurashi princess, not Kikyo! Kikyo was her maid, nothing else, right? She took a step back and a small stick broke under her weight. She furiously screamed silently at herself and stayed completely still. This wasn't happening! Stuff like this happened in books, not reality!  
  
"What was that?" One of the nobles said. "I heard something break."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, nobody rides this far out." The king said loudly.  
  
"What of the girl Kagome?" Another noble asked. "I hear she rides every day."  
  
"I got her penned up with that idiot Inuyasha, it's rest assured she won't be around to find anything." The king said.  
  
She didn't know how she got back to the palace, she couldn't even remember going back to her horse and even riding into the stable. All she could think of was how the noble said 'the girl Kagome' and not 'Kagome-hime'. She was so utterly confused and her mind couldn't seem to take in everything she had heard earlier. Kikyo had been her personal maid ever since she was young, so there was no way her maid could be a princess.

She quickly ran for the library. The family tree, it held records, birth dates, and portraits of every single Higurashi born. Her picture was in there, she was sure! And her birth date and everything! This would prove that it was all a big joke, it had to be! She hurriedly found the book with the Higurashi family tree in it, still incomplete for the future generations ahead. She flipped to the most recent page in the book, her fingers trembled as it located aunts, uncles, and cousin. When her finger came upon the reigning family of the kingdom, she found her picture.  
  
She breathed a sigh of relief, that was her picture, it looked just like she did when she was young. Then her eyes caught sight of the exquisite writing of the princess's birthday, December 21. That was odd, she was born on June 13. And it was two years off! She was 15, not 17! She peered closer to her picture to make sure it was truly her, and felt her heart go still when she noticed the color of eyes painted in. She had blue eyes, a color that she had once proudly noticed that nobody else in the family had, but why did her picture have brown eyes?  
  
This was impossible. It couldn't be true, she WAS the princess, she had always been the princess...at least up until now...

* * *

Author's Notes: Didn't expect that huh? Well, at least I hope not. And if you guys don't know by know, this is a SESS/KAG. Repeat, SESS/KAG. I'll probably have to repeat this again in the next chapter because people never read the author's notes --  
  
Kijotenshi: Bows down have I mentioned that your stories rock? Seriously! thanks for reviewing, I really feel honored! Eh, I hope I update my other stories as well....that is, I hope...  
  
Snoochie: wow, was it really that funny? I try to be humorous but I'm usually not too successful.  
  
Peanut Gallery-Alaska's Own: lol, Kagome is gonna need more than a care package later on. I think I might be moving events too fast, but I want this to be a summer project, thus, I want this story to be done by the time summer is over.  
  
Miko Sorrow: argh, I tried, but it won't show up when I upload the document. I'm retarded when it comes to working with the computer and I dunno how to make the stupid chapter come out the way I want it to.  
  
Belledaynight: oh wow, I just read ur kenshin story, which was awesome. And rest assured, this is a sess/kag, I even put it in all caps to catch people's attention. I'm a sess/kag fan  
  
Raharu Haruko: thanks! I always like to try for a different plotline than what u usually expect. and...eh..well, as for updating my other stories...uh...yyeeaah, it all depends on my muses, who are on their sporadic coffee breaks.


	3. The Plan

Author's Notes: A bit disappointed with how this chapter came out, but it's late at night and I really don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. I'll try harder on my next chapter.

Kiss Me or Kill Me

Chapter 3: The Plan

* * *

She tried to walk as smoothly as she could, her steps going into the glide that her manners teacher had always tried to get her to accomplish. But she couldn't stop her body from shaking and she felt the curious glances of servants at her pale and nervous state. After what seemed an eternity of walking with her family book clutched to her chest, she finally made it to her bedroom. She slowly opened the door to find her room cold from disuse. Shutting the door behind her, she didn't bother to make a light for her room and burrowed herself deep into her bed covers like she always did in thunderstorms, terrified and pathetic. 

Every time she tried to push away creeping thoughts of the incident, it kept struggling to break the surface, beckoning her to remember facts that only added to the solidity of something that she did not want at all costs. She rapidly remembered birthday tantrums toward her parents for forgetting her birthday. Why she never displayed the grace and charisma that Kikyo had. And the most crucial fact of all, the reason why she and Kikyo appeared to be nearly identical twins.

A decoy. She gave a muffled laugh and clapped her hands over her mouth before a sob could work its way out. She had been a decoy for 15 years to fool marriage offers from foreign ambassadors like the Taiyoukai family. Her father was planning on using his true daughter for a power alliance. And Kagome was merely a leftover to toss to someone else. She held her eyes tight, feeling the acid hotness of tears pressing against her will. Princesses didn't cry, they were always composed and refined. The tears broke through and the sobs escaped through her fingers. But she wasn't a princess anymore.

Her room had grown darker after she had stopped her crying, but it felt like a load had been lifted from her shoulders. Physically, she felt horrible, but mentally, she could think clearer and better. She couldn't break a life's worth of relationships in one day, but her reality would never be the same. She knew now, she didn't need any more evidence to disprove a hope that she knew would soon be abandoned. What worried her the most was whether she could act normally, all the while knowing the reason for her existence. She groaned and stumbled off the bed to go to her bathroom. Who was she kidding, if she could barely keep a lie on her face, how was she going to behave her normal self when she had been duped for 15 years? People she knew for years would look different in her eyes now and her mother would be able to notice the suspicion in Kagome's face. Could she even call her mother a mother anymore? She stifled a sigh. She'd come across that hurdle later, she didn't even want to think about whether her wonderful mother was merely playacting since she was born.

"What to do, what to do?" She whispered to her mirror. "Keep living like the ignorant that I was? Or, run away from it all?"

If she did run away, she'd have to take shelter in uninhabited areas and live like a hermit for the rest of her life, hoping that nobody would come and find her. But who would care anyways? If everybody was aware that she wasn't the true princess, nobody would care about a fake. Maybe, she could live humbly in a remote village, teaching children how to read and write. The prospect of living independently was slowly becoming more appealing than living a lie. She had always cursed her existence as a princess, hating all the manners lessons she had been given, and this could be her chance to get away from it all. A small voice inside told her that she was just running from her troubles but she squashed that voice and thought harder of her plan.

She'd have to leave immediately, probably tonight, and take as few possessions as possible so she wouldn't be weighed down. And she would need the clothes of a commoner so she wouldn't attract attention. She looked down at her servant clothes, the emblem of the royal family in blazing gold. None of her other clothes were plain, even her riding clothes were made of good cloth. Or, she could always steal clothing from the servants. She cautiously ran to the servant's wing, being careful that nobody saw her. She stole into a random room and pawed through the chest of drawers, grabbing as much as she could. Luckily, with preparations of a banquet, there were few servants walking around and she made it back to her room without any danger.

When she threw down what she had grabbed on her bed, she gave a groan of dismay. These were all male clothes! Someone would surely notice a female in male clothing. But time was running out and she pulled on the loose dark blue pants and a white shirt. The clothes hung on her lean frame but she tightened everything with a belt and pulled her hair into a ponytail she had seen the longer haired men use. In the mirror, she looked like a scrawny underfed boy and she gave a frown, trying to look tougher. The effort was meaningless and only made her look surly and stubborn. Grabbing a cloth bag she used to hide her riding clothes, she stuffed the few gold coins she kept, all her jewelry to sell, and two of her favorite dresses.

She looked around her room for anything else she could take and suddenly realized how many memories she had made. She couldn't take them all with her and her heart ached at that awareness. Running was a coward's way out, but she didn't know what to do. Her father was planning something diabolical towards the Taiyoukai's and she had no intention of taking part. At least now she wouldn't get married to that faceless stranger she feared.

She pushed her windows open and climbed down to the ground, using the holds she had cut into the stone years ago. The palace was glowing with light, making it harder to sneak to the stables. She was putting on the saddle to her favorite mare when a lantern shown bright behind her. She whirled to see the head hostler carrying two heavy looking burlap sacks. He shook his head and tossed one of the sacks to her.

"I always knew it would come to this." He said sadly. "Go on, I won't say a thing."

"You knew too?" She asked accusingly as she secured the sacks onto the saddle.

"I'm just an observer in this dance of lies, nothing more. Hurry on before the king starts searching for you." He urged her as he pushed open the stable doors. He tossed her a heavy cloak for warmth as she trotted out.

"Thank you." She called out as she urged the horse into a gallop. The wind dove down on her face and she pulled the cloak tighter.

"Good luck princess." He called out to her, at least that's what she would have heard if the wind hadn't sucked the words into its vortex.

* * *

"Ugh." Was all she could utter as she stiffly climbed off her horse. Her muscles were screaming in stern protest but she did her best to take off the saddle and allow her horse to roll in the grass. She flopped to the ground and glanced up at the dawn sky, beautiful in its crimson wave. It was a new day but she couldn't shed her old life just yet. She was too tired and ached to be scared, and too exhausted to wonder if what she was doing was the right thing. She already missed the comforts of her room, she missed tea with her mother, she missed riding for hours without a care; she missed the only life she knew. It had been a lie, but it was all she had known. 

"Argh!" She yelled and sat up. She couldn't let these negative thoughts discourage her from what was already set in motion. There was no turning back, the king and queen were probably looking for her. Inuyasha would be exhibiting a fit at having nobody to boss around. She rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes and rummaged through the two sacks the hostler had given her. There was food in one of them, the other had practical things such as rope, an extra shirt and pants, a small knife, and other useful implements. She tucked the knife into her shirt and stuffed a small roll into her mouth. She laid back down and finished her roll, her back aching for soft silk sheets. The grass was straggly, but it was slowly becoming comfortable and she felt her eyes slide shut despite weak protests.

Suddenly, she felt a presence and she sat up, taking out her knife. She gave a scream when she saw Inuyasha sitting in front of her. The knife had already left her hand and he neatly caught it before it could make impact with his chest. He tossed the small knife aside with a sniff.

"What are you doing here?!!!" She yelled as she threw apples from the sack at his head. "Can't you make some kind of noise when you're around?!!!"

"I followed you after you left the library!" He yelled back as he blocked the food with two hands. "Stop throwing things! I'm not going to do anything to you!!!"

"Oh." She said with a sheepish grin. "I thought someone sent you to get me."

"I left before I heard them say anything." He stated with a scowl. "Do you always run away?"

"No." She said with a huff. "This has special circumstances and I don't intend to go back either, so nothing you can say will stop me."

"An alliance between the west and east is at stake here! And if I don't secure it for my brother, I'll be the one to take all the heat for it. Stop being selfish and just take the marriage for the good of your kingdom!" He scolded.

"Easy for you to say, you don't know what my par-what the king is planning against you, so why don't you worry more about your kingdom than mine. Besides, I'm not running away from marriage." She said as she began packing up her things. He grabbed the sack from her hands and grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.

"What is the king planning?" He asked harshly. She defiantly shut her mouth but he shook her hard as his golden eyes grew intense in demand.

"I'm not the real princess! There, are you happy now? The king was planning on marrying off a fake daughter while preserving his real daughter for another alliance. I was a decoy so that the alliance would fool you since the king holds some kind of grudge against you Taiyoukai's. Now let go of me so I can leave this despicable kingdom in peace." Tears sprang from her eyes for no reason and she hurriedly wiped it away as she grabbed the sack from his hands and went back to picking up her things.

"You're not the princess?"

"Did I stutter?" She snapped as she whistled for her horse. "Go back home Inuyasha, and warn your brother of my fa-of the king's deception." She said softly as she hopped back on the horse. Inuyasha grabbed her reins and held them tight in his hand.

"You're coming with me. I need proof for my brother since he's such a skeptical bastard. And you fail horribly at running away, you'll get caught by the king in a few hours." He ordered as he undid her sacks and threw them over his shoulder.

"Who asked you, genius?" She said sarcastically.

"I can hear a band of people on horses approximately nine miles from here. If you go on as you are now, you'll be caught. Get off your horse and have it run to some other direction. You and I are going on foot." He said as he squatted in front of her, his back faced towards her.

"What?" She asked as she slid off her horse.

"Get on." He urged her.

A few seconds later she was soaring through the trees at a speed she only dared to dream on a horse. Inuyasha was running and jumping as if the weight of another person was nothing and he wasn't breathless at all. It was when he was slowing down that she noticed that he had a pair of ears swiveling to and fro on his head. Her hands reached up and grabbed them before she knew what she was doing. He dropped to the ground and tumbled her off his back.

"What the hell? Why did you grab my ears?" He accused her and she gave a guilty grin as she stood up.

"Sorry, I never noticed you had ears before. Are you some kind of animal?" She asked curiously as his ears curled down in irritation.

"Gods, not only are you annoying but you're an idiot. Haven't you guessed by now by the name Taiyoukai? I'm half youkai half human, you nitwit." He jumped up and perched himself on a branch, looking down at her in disgust. "I forgot how stupid humans can be."

"Well, sorry for not noticing, I was too preoccupied by other things to discern whether you were human or not. Why do you look down on us anyways?" She asked as she prepared a cold dinner of bread and fruit. "I think we're quite the same."

He gave a snort. "You wouldn't understand. Get some rest, it will be dark soon and we're going to move again after midnight."

She gave a sigh and tried to settle herself on the rough patches of grass but couldn't fall asleep. She was exhausted and was at her very limit in energy, but she couldn't go to sleep. She looked up at Inuyasha but his body was shrouded in the shadows of the tree and she couldn't tell if he was awake or not. Oddly enough, this whole running away business seemed so much better when she was with someone else. Being alone made her think too much about the future to concentrate on the present. She looked at Inuyasha once more and squeezed out enough energy to get up and look for a small pond to wash in. With a rough bar of soap in her hands, she scrubbed away the dirt and grime she had picked up throughout the day and relaxed with her feet in the water. Inuyasha settled himself quietly next to her.

"I'm sorry." He said with a sincerity that instantly made her cautious.

"About what?" She asked warily.

"You not being a princess."

She stifled a sigh and laid back on the grass, her feet still soaking in the water. It wasn't the fact that she was no longer that princess that brought a twinge of sadness inside, but that she had been born for a deceptive cause. Her only purpose in life was to be a decoy for her father in whatever he was scheming. Other than that, she was nothing. The king and queen probably just stole her away from unknown parents that could be dead by now. There were so many blank holes in her life and she was too scared to find the answers. What more could be revealed? She was already having a hard time dealing with her true identity; anything else would be overkill to her scrambled mind.

"There's no point in apologizing, you're not the one who lied to me my whole life." She said as she shut her eyes tightly. She breathed in and out deeply, feeling the slight strain of tears that pushed against her eyelids.

"I'll find you a place at my home to stay." Inuyasha said suddenly. "Nobody there will care who you really are and my brother will be too busy declaring war."

"Is that a promise?" She asked him.

"Yes."

* * *

They were just nearing the borders of Inuyasha's kingdom when he stopped in midjump and landed on the ground, carefully releasing her so that she could stand. His whole body was tense in anticipation and his claws were out in preparation to strike. Kagome opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but promptly shut it, thinking better of the situation. She listened hard for anything out of place and quickly noticed how quiet it was. 

A tall man stepped out from the shadows like a ghost. He had similar facial features to Inuyasha but was more angular and…cold. There was nothing in his face, neither displeasure nor annoyance. Inuyasha began to growl under his breath as he warily watched his brother through narrowed eyes. The man's eyes instantly grew red and a long whip materialized from his fingertips. The whip quickly flew towards Inuyasha but he moved out of the way just in time. The whip flew again and this time caught Inuyasha at the ankle, making him fall to the ground. The man leisurely strode to his brother while tightening the whip that had snaked its way to Inuyasha's neck.

"You had one mission and you failed me." The man said coldly. "And now you bring a useless human to my lands?"

"Our lands." Inuyasha said angrily. "You're not the only one of father's blood!"

The man gave a sneer of contempt and released the whip with an elegant flick of his fingers. "I should have never sent a useless halfbreed to do a real yokai's job."

Kagome huddled in the shadows as she looked on in horror at the sight of the fight. The man's cold hate clashed with Inuyasha's fiery temper but it was clear, even in the beginning, of who the winner of this outcome would be. The hanyou was pinned against a tree with the man's hand pressed tight against his throat. Kagome's feet began to move on its own accord and she latched onto the man's arm, struggling to get him to release his hold. The man let go of Inuyasha and grabbed onto Kagome's throat instead, easily lifting her into the air.

"Puny human, you dare to defy me?" He hissed in her face. He was practically yelling at her to be terrified of him, but her mind had no fear, only an urge to wipe that arrogance off his face.

She kicked at him as hard as she could but her vision start to explode in fireworks. Her chest felt tight at the lack of oxygen and her kicks were growing more feeble. She saw Inuyasha coming at the man from behind with a look of rage on his face and the scene suddenly turned slow motion in her eyes. The man released her, and he turned around to meet Inuyasha head on. With the same hand he used to choke her, the man thrust it deep into the hanyou's chest with no hesitation. Blood sprayed down like rain as Inuyasha slowly fell to the ground with a gaping hole in his chest. Kagome felt the warm drops fall all over her and she looked up at the sky in a daze.

"Blood….it's raining blood." She whispered before she passed out.

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Author's Notes: I was going for light hearted in the first two chapters, so now I'm going to start getting into the more serious elements of this story. Uh, did I say sorry yet for the late update? Oops, sorry! 

Kaora: a promise is a promise? Uh, that's not one of my stories, you must be thinking of something else. Or you got the title wrong. well, as long as you like this story, its fine

Katz Mina: Oh wow, I was just talking to someone about how bad writing is these days. I don't even bother to look at the new stories anymore because what I've read so far is redundant in plot and lacking in grammer. I'm glad mine doesn't fall under that category

Peanut Gallery –Alaska's Own: lol, well, the fun stopped now, I wish I hadn't made this chapter so serious, but I wanted to start getting into the plot. Though it was fun writing about Inuyasha's horrible torture on kagome

Light-of-Halo: thanks! I'm glad this story is going pretty well, I want to have about 12 chapters total for this story, and considering how long it took me to update, I hope it's not going to take 6 years to finish this….

BelleDayNight: kyaaaaa, I love sess/kag. Arrogance against goodheartedness rocks!! And I hope you aren't disappointed by the seriousness of this chapter, I had to start getting into the plot. But I can promise it will be humorous in the next chapter


	4. The Escape

Kiss Me or Kill Me

Chapter 4: The Escape

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It was a blood splattered dream. The room was soaked from ceiling to floor with the crimson liquid, and though it should have disgusted her, she found it strangely beautiful. It was so bright that she felt the urge to cover her eyes, like when she looked up at the sun, but she stared hard at a single dark corner in the room. She heard the rustle of cloth and she looked down to see herself in a magnificent gown the same color as the blood in the room. Dark rubies bedecked her neck and her hands and she didn't need to reach up to feel a tiara that probably held the same red jewels. The dark corner beckoned to her and she walked closer, itching to see why it attracted her. Just when she could make out a huddled figure she let out a gasp and the world warped into a stone ceiling. 

Her breath was caught in her throat and it took her a few moments to remember to breathe it out when she felt her chest tighten for the need of air. Her mind felt scrambled. She couldn't remember how she ended up in a cell, of all places. What had happened? And why did her skin feel so strange?

It was then, when she looked down at herself that she saw all the blood. An impossible amount clung to her skin, her hair, her clothes. The dimness of the cell should have dulled all the color, but in her eyes, she saw it grow brighter and brighter. She barely made it to the corner when she threw up everything she had in her stomach. Tears flowed down her cheeks, absorbing the dried blood on her face so that pink tinged droplets fell down.

She remembered now. She remembered everything. The mute shock on Inuyasha's face and the blank wall of indifference on his brother's. The gaping hole in Inuyasha's chest, in the spot where a heart should be. She began sobbing and it echoed in the cell, the air doubling the sound to display the depth of her horror. Never in her life had she seen someone killed. She hadn't even had anybody close to her die. To experience someone's death in such vivid and close detail tore something in her chest. The feeling was worse than when she found out the truth about her birth. She was shocked to discover that somehow, in the short time she had known him, she had actually liked Inuyasha. He was incomparably bad-mannered, obnoxious, and air headed, but the few times he had shown her kindness seemed to make up for all his bad qualities, almost.

This was stupid, she was crying her heart out over someone she had barely known. Kagome buried her head in her hands and made no attempt to stop the tears from falling. She didn't notice the person standing in front of her cell doors until the air grew thick with displeasure. She looked up at Inuyasha's murderer and all tears were forgotten. She threw herself at the cell doors in a rage that startled her.

"You rotten bastard! To kill your own brother, have you no heart inside you! It wasn't his fault he failed! YOU SELFISH HEARTLESS-"

The cell door disappeared and he slapped her hard across the cheek, hoping that it would silence her irritating shrieking. His brother had picked a loud, rude human to drag to his kingdom, another blunder to add to the list of faults his useless sibling had accumulated. He, Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru, king of the Western lands, the youngest head of the youkai council in four centuries, did not tolerate any sort of failure. Inuyasha had gotten precisely what he deserved for coming back without the marriage alliance in hand. To drag a cross dressing village girl with no knowledge of manners, let alone court manners, into Sesshoumaru's lands exceeded beyond failure, a first for Inuyasha.

The village girl looked at him with all the fury she had, sparks almost flying from her glittering eyes. He almost smiled; the girl was so ignorant of her current position. She had to be extremely stupid to not realize her own impending death or foolishly brave. At least his slap had shut her up and he silently snickered at his father's insistence on kind treatment to all women. Women, Sesshoumaru had learned, listened to only one thing in life, strength. Show them you ruled their lives with an iron fist, and they would remain the quiet, demure slaves they should be. He was turning to leave when she jumped at him from behind. He heard her movements and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, lifting her easily into the air. Instead of cowering in fear, as he had expected her to do, she kicked him as hard as she could in the stomach.

The kick meant nothing to him, he had survived battle wounds from enemies a thousand times her strength and size. However, the fact that she was still tactlessly trying to exhibit her wrath was beginning to anger him as well. Her 'attack while he's not looking' routine was getting old. He turned his eyes blood red and grew out his sharp fangs to frighten her.

"You insignificant wench, do you know who you're dealing with?" He hissed at her. "I can kill you with a single thought."

"Go ahead! I bet you can do it!" She bellowed into his face. "Why not, after killing your own family! What's a little girl like me to stop you from slaughtering another innocent soul! Is that what everybody is to you! Cows! Deer! DUCKS!"

The girl's unreasonable chain of logic had to stem from a brain disorder, or _something_. As it was, he suddenly felt drained of his annoyance. Killing the girl would be like killing an ant, pointless and lacking of any kind of enjoyment. He threw her onto the floor and stepped out of the cell, calling up the cell doors to appear. They materialized just before she jumped to try to escape. She kicked at the cold iron bars in defiance.

"You're a COWARD." She mumbled, tears springing up as he turned his back at her. "A pitiful coward."

He paused for a brief second in his step and then disappeared from her sight.

She didn't see him for days after that, but he was on her mind every second. Invisible servants came while she slept, leaving food for her to eat and even depositing a blanket against the cold. She was furious at first, was the youkai lord trying to fool her into thinking he wasn't an evil, bloodthirsty murderer? But reality won, she needed food for energy and catching a cold in a chilly dungeon wouldn't help her spirits. She had only one thing going in her favor, that fool of a man underestimated her. He had given her chopsticks to eat her rice and the servants hadn't created an uproar when a pair went missing. Of course, if he was a _king_, why would he care about the loss of a pair of chopsticks?

She began to set her escape plan. She had used the hard stone wall to create sharpened points to her chopsticks, hopefully, sharp enough to penetrate that man's skin and injure him enough for her to dash past. Especially if she got him in the eyes. In the back of her mind, a voice told her that it was quite possibly the most dim-witted plan in the history of mankind, but she was out of options. Inuyasha's brother, he who will not be named, had magic and the incredible strength of youkai _and_ an army at his command. What did she have? Her anger and a pair of sharpened chopsticks that probably wouldn't wound a chicken.

Six days had passed and her patience was wearing thin. The cell was a box of dark stones and retreating to her thoughts only summoned painful images of Inuyasha… and his death. If her sobbing had brought him to her cell before, perhaps she should attempt a similar action.

She screamed. Years of practice as a young girl had given her an impressive set of lungs, which hadn't been lost to the years gone by. Five minutes passed, ten, twenty. She was now screaming in short intervals, followed by a few moments of silence. It was thirty minutes later that he arrived at her cell door, irritation blazing in his gold eyes. She stopped and gave a dainty smile.

"I was getting bored." She drawled. "This cell, you see, it's driving me mad. The next thing I knew, I was screaming out my madness. Honestly, you're a king after all, can't you afford to give your prisoners something from going crazy in the head?"

She heavily emphasized sarcasm into all her words and watched anger slightly tighten his jaw. She jumped just as the cell door disappeared and plunged her chopstick straight into his chest. Without waiting to see the look of pain (or surprise) on his face, she raced past him and was out the door. Yet, once again, he stood in her way. Somehow, in some impossible manner, he had gotten ahead of her. And the chopstick was still sticking out of his chest. His eyes were filled with red again and a strange wind whipped around him. She gulped, now he was really annoyed. The wind grew stronger around him, surrounding him and he began to shapeshift. His arms and legs grew immense and hairy, his face elongating into jaws filled with sharp canine fangs. He grew and grew and grew until he towered over her in his true form, a terrifying dog beast with a crescent moon on its head. He bared his enormous teeth and a growl shook the ground under her feet. Yes, he was definitely annoyed at her.

There was no point in escaping now, all he had to do was move his feet and he would probably step on her like some bug. But if she was going to die, which seemed very certain at this point, she wasn't going to go without a fight.

It seemed terribly unfair to her. She had only just found out the despicable machinations of her fa- of the king, and yes, it had given her a great deal of sorrow, but not enough for her to wish her life to be over. She had barely had the time to muse over her options now that she wasn't a princess. If she really thought about it, she could probably find an adventure or at least lead a life that wasn't filled with dreadful manners lessons. She wasn't ready to die yet, not until she found out the entire truth of her birth.

The dog beast snapped at her, his mouth coming perilously close to her body. He was teasing her and Kagome found her spark. Her fury erupted and this time, determination accompanied it. The dog beast's paw started to come down on her to squash her flat. She felt something pulse in her body and her hands raised up on their own. Warmth blossomed all throughout her and purple light surged out from her hands. The light felt warm and comforting to her, but it must have felt otherwise to the dog beast because it gave an ear shattering yelp of pain and collapsed. Without wondering what the purple light actually was, Kagome ran off to the side to avoid being under the dog beast's falling body and escaped into the forest surrounding the king's palace.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Adrenaline and fear pumped endless energy into her and it felt like hours before she stopped to rest. Her breath was coming out in heaving gasps and her rapid heartbeats thudded ridiculously loud in her ears. She listened carefully for the sounds of bushes crashing, for any sounds of pursuit but the forest resumed its normal flurry of animal sounds. A nearby streamed relieved her parched throat and she continued on in a fast walk. Without an idea of where to go, she kept the sun on her right and resolutely walked on while occasionally glancing at her hands.

The purple light had to be some brand of magic, but where had it come from? As far as she knew from reading history books, it was the youkai's that held the bulk of magic. Humans who did have magic came from long and ancient lines of priests and priestesses, which were dying out in the present time. Kagome was definitely not a youkai, so that left the possibility that she had descended from a line of priestesses. It wasn't much of a clue on who her parents were, but it was a start. And it beat the chance that she was just an orphan sold to the king for his own uses.

Things were beginning to look up. She had escaped from Inuyasha's murderous brother, nobody was chasing her at the moment, and she had something of a clue towards who she really was. Granted, Inuyasha's brother would eventually send his minions to look for her, along with the king's soldiers not too far behind, and she didn't know where she would get food. She grimaced, perhaps things weren't exactly looking up, but she was free and that was a start. A bone crushing thought suddenly struck her and Kagome wanted to hit her head against a tree.

She had forgotten to warn Inuyasha's brother about the king's plans…

What luck. She had had the brilliant intention of going to the brother to warn him about the king's treachery and instead, witnessed murder and experienced captivity instead. She nearly considered the thought that the brother deserved the treachery the king was planning, but… but for some bizarre reason, the brother seemed more honest than the king. If he said he was going to kill her, she really believed he was going to kill her. The king- Kagome shook her head, as if to shake out all unnecessary thoughts about her past life. She couldn't forget it, but she didn't feel like remembering it either.

Her entire body unexpectedly prickled, like a ghost had passed through her body. A burst of hot, angry energy swept through the forest and she immediately knew that the brother must have gained consciousness and a ruthless temper as well. She felt his rage, his fury, and knew that regardless of what injuries she had given him, he would be up and hunting her out without a moment to lose. She slipped into an anxious run. She had to increase the distance between them. Never mind the fact that she knew youkai's had unbelievable speed, she needed to get away, fast.

Her run brought her to the edge of a large, roaring river. It had fast currents and immense waves broke out from the jagged rocks littered all around. Spray hit her in the face, the cold drops waking her from exhaustion. The river would, without a doubt, hide her tracks, but at the risk of her own life. Crashing into one of those rocks would probably break a dozen bones but it was either a chance of escaping or becoming dog meat.

She leaped in and was swept away before she could get a proper breath.

* * *

She was going to die. 

She was going to suffer, and then die.

Either way, she was going to die.

The purple light was like acid on unprotected skin. It burnt him straight to the bone, taking most his right arm and leaving horrible burns on his chest. The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced. It ate at his energy, trying to suck it in and replace it with its searing fire. There was only one kind of magic that would try to take his youkai energy and replace it- purifying power from a priestess. He let out one last roar and then, agonizingly slow, he reverted back to his normal form. Mute servants waited close to him, medicine and clothes in their hands. Silently, they cared for his wounds but he knew that the arm was beyond saving. He tore it out himself without a wince and furiously threw it off to the side.

She was going to pay for what she had done. He should have killed her the second she stabbed him with her pitiful excuse of a weapon but he had let surprise take him. Surprise that she had the guts to actually try to injure him. No. What truly angered him was that he had allowed mercy to stay his hand. Confidently, he had thought that there was nothing a stupid village girl could do to hurt him.

He summoned up what energy he had left into healing his burns and his servants caught him as he fell. Tomorrow, he thought before he slipped into deep sleep, tomorrow he would begin his hunt.

And this time, there would be no mercy.

* * *

Author's Notes: well, the update time is certainly better than my other stories… not that that's much… well, I hope u like it. Its shorter than I expected but I thought it was right to end it there. Please leave a nice long review and mebbe I'll update this one sooner. Seriously, reviews really are a great source of inspiration. 

Jade the Fairyness: lol, the lovingness, eh, that won't start for a while, as u can tell by the ending of this chapter. He's out to kill her, so its gonna take a while to calm his butt down, but the lovingness will happen eventually, or this sure ain't no sess.kag fic.

Celestialprincessofblood: I kind of got the idea from kenshin, the whole its raining blood thing. I always get inspired by that series.

White tiger princess: yes she is jumping to conclusion. I half did it because she's a bored princess who has an imaginative mind and half because I don't want to spend three chapters on her in denial of the truth. I want this story moving quick because I'm trying to keep this story to ten chapters, or at least around ten. Sigh, lets see how it goes anyways

The-Freak32: yayay! The plot is uncliched! Just what I was going for! I'm constantly trying to think of plots that unique. Yay!


	5. The Survival

-Kiss Me or Kill Me

Chapter 5: The Survival

It was like being pushed to the brink of death; pushed, pulled, _twisted_ in the ice cold water and just when she felt her head explode with darkness, the current would push her back to sweet air. She kept waiting for the big impact, when the incredible force of the river would crash her into the myriad of boulders she had seen before jumping to death (or worse). Brushes against rocks pounded her weak arms and legs and she felt that every bone in her body would be broken before her final destination- a hard gray surface.

Another current pulled her down and in the silent water, she wished the river would just get it over with; just do what Sesshoumaru was going to do- smash her into little pieces. She felt her chest constrict once more- whether in sorrow that her life would inevitably end soon or the lack of air- and the current thrusted her through the surface yet again. The intake of precious air gave her a short desire to live until she felt the current pulling at her useless legs again. Perhaps, Kagome wearily thought, perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad to die in Sesshoumaru's hands, or under his paws. If she could never be with the handsome princes in the books she had read, she could at least die in the hands of an unbelievably gorgeous king. Brilliant spots began flashing in her eyes even though she had them shut tight and she felt her chest began to slack. _Is this it? Am I finally dying?_ Through the lights that she felt was her end, she suddenly saw Sesshoumaru right beside her. _Hallucinations. _Kagome wished she could sigh underwater. _Just what I want to see, the face of the man who drove me to death. _Even in her head, despite the hate for his cruelty and his arrogance, he was still perfect. It would have been nice for her imagination to twist Sesshoumaru into some ugly, hump backed king with terrible hair just so she could hang on to her anger. Either way, she couldn't decide on whether she wanted to kiss that disgustingly perfect face or kill him and make the world a better place, albeit slightly uglier. Damn her imagination.

And then something miraculous happened- the current began to lose its force and it slowly carried her up to the surface. Her body fought to suck in reviving air and expel the dangerous water that had trickled into her lungs, resulting in her body doing a strange combination of both. After her hacking fit she cracked her eyes open to see gentle waters ahead and opened her mouth to laugh, only to swallow more of that bone chilling water. She coughed and willed her poor arms to guide her to land. Broken bone or not, she made it to the bank and gratefully laid on the sun warmed earth. Some twisted soul in heaven must have wanted her to live, she couldn't think of any other way she'd have survived that river. She heard shouts in the distance- villagers running towards her in worry and she smiled before drifting into unconsciousness. To survive and be deposited by a village- it had to be fate.

* * *

It had to be fate. 

To lose the treaty, lose the peasant, and now lose an arm?

Sesshoumaru shifted his body and felt pain sear up what was left of his arm, through his shoulder, and straight into his head. Rather than a groan he allowed himself a small hmph and blinked his golden eyes into consciousness. Soft light filtered through his curtains filled his elegant, but sparse bed chamber. Tenseiga, his father's last legacy to him, was perched on a sword stand across from him, the only real decoration in the room. The empty space on top of Tenseiga made him remember what his foolish half brother had lost in forgoing the treaty. With reluctance, his stomach muscles clenched as he sat up without the aid of his main arm. He looked at the stump in disgust and was rising to get a robe when Jaken barged into his room, looking greener than usual and flustered, as usual.

"My Lord!" Jaken threw himself down before the bed, his head trembling so hard into the floor that it was likely to leave an imprint. Sesshoumaru could only mildly speculate that the search for the wench had not gone well. A witch wouldn't be easily found by the low ranked youkai Jaken had probably sent out. "My most deepest, humblest apologies. I am the most unworthiest servant in all the land. My regrets tear at my heart more than the tear to your-"

"Speak." Sesshoumaru ordered as another servant fearfully crept in with his usual attire.

"The bitch-" Jaken spat out as he raised his head to look fearfully into his master's cool eyes. "She jumped into the river. I regret that she may have died on the rocks instead of rightfully in your hands."

Sesshoumaru looked casually at his dangling sleeve as the servant tied his armor on. The wench had powerful magic at her disposal, powerful enough to strike down a taiyoukai. There was no way that same magic wouldn't save her from something as pathetic as a raging river. He clenched his right hand into a tight fist and felt anger surge forth at the fact that he couldn't do the same with his other hand. Battle wounds could be healed in minutes with enough power, but lost limbs took nearly three months- three _wasted_ months. Without a thought, he felt his youkai blood spill into his eyes and the stripes on his cheek angrily burned into warped lines. The scent of fear creeped behind him and his iron will soothed his roaring youkai blood. It would do him no good to release his anger here and now. No. He would save it all for her and make all lowly beings realize that anybody who injured this Sesshoumaru would have it dealt back by the hundreds.

"M-my Lord…" Jaken said. "What would you have me do?"

"You will maintain the palace." Sesshoumaru threw open his windows, letting in the sharp sunlight of noon. "I am going on a hunt." He said before jumping out of the window and into the sky. He followed the scent of water till he came upon a sizeable river that indeed have numerous rocks strewn about. Her wretched scent stopped at the edge of a small cliff jutting out, it was very faint from the three days that had passed but was still there. His acute nose caught small remnants of fear in her scent and strangely enough- regret. So was the bitch regretful of the injury she had caused? With the breathless speed of a taiyoukai, he began skipping from tree branch to tree branch, following the path of the river. Her scent was burned into his mind- night blooming jasmine with tinges of sorrow.

* * *

"Please please, stand back and let me do my work." A calm voice said to the crowd. Kagome woke up to see a young man in the robes of a priest leaning over her. For a pious man, he was unexpectedly attractive in his purple and black robes. He even had an earring, giving him a rebellious air to his devout position. Something was rubbing her chest and she looked down to see the priest's rosary covered hand caressing a very private part of her body. Without a thought Kagome shrieked and slapped the monk hard, making his robes fly out as he fell over onto the dirt. The crowd chattered disapprovingly and many even began to rebuke her. 

"Cheh, how ungrateful, after monk-sama brought her back from the dead." An old man said before turning away to leave. The rest of the villagers began to disperse after seeing that the girl was alive, all of them shaking their heads at Kagome. The monk showed no shame on his face and only held that same caressing hand to his red cheek.

"You! WHAT did you think you were doing?" Kagome hissed at him as she slowly sat up. She cautiously moved her legs and arms and thanked the heavens that nothing was broken, just terribly bruised.

"I was merely trying to feel if your heart was beating or not." He gave an innocent smile despite having been beaten just seconds before.

"Unless all those lessons on anatomy were wrong, my heart is _not _on my breast. " She said angrily.

"Ah, come now," he said. "You're obviously injured, I shall aid you to the medicine woman."

"I can do it myself. I don't care to feel whatever else you seemed to be wrong about in terms of anatomy." she snapped at him. With much struggle, Kagome stood up on wobbly legs only to lose balance and fall over. The monk stared down at her and shook his head. He turned his back to her and squatted down, motioning her to get on.

"You are too injured to walk. You can either take my help or stay on this bank till night comes, where youkai are sure to find you." He said. "On my word, I shall be honorable."

Hearing the word youkai jump started Kagome's memory of why she was desperate to get up and run. As powerful as that mysterious purple light may have seemed, Sesshoumaru was still a youkai king with incredible healing powers. She didn't know the time she had spent in the river but no time would be enough if he was on the road, hunting her down. Forget trying to tell Sesshoumaru of the evil plot against him, he would probably kill her before a word could come out of her mouth. A stomach turning image of the taiyoukai running his hand through her chest filled her head. Her heart painfully twisted at the memory of Inuyasha and the anger was back. If only she could summon that purple power at will, then she could dissolve Sesshoumaru into the worthless dust he should be. Oh the things she would do if he was here right now… She groaned as her arm spasmed from pain. If it weren't for all those years being thrown off of various hot tempered horses, she would have been bawling at the movement of a single aching muscle. Though rather than falling off of a horse and onto hard ground, at the moment it felt more like a dozen horses had stampeded over her. She stared at the monk's back with his eagerly wiggling fingers and contemplated on the consequential choice before her. She could sit here and tell the monk to go stuff his face, thus keeping her pride, not to mention her purity. Or she could sacrifice some innocence for a chance at life and survival, at least until Sesshoumaru caught up with her and finished her off.

Running away was her only bet, at least for now. Though… how long _that _would last was up for grabs. With a sigh, she got on the monk's warm back, and trusted the little honor she hoped the lecherous man had. On his word, he delivered her to a small inn where he conversed quietly with a short medicine woman. After much nodding and shaking, she slapped a smelly plaster all over Kagome's body. With stern instructions to rest for the remainder of the day, Kagome was left lying down on the futon and the monk, just call me "Miroku-kun", sitting quietly next to her.

"You could leave now." Kagome said, turning her head away from the monk. "I'm sure the villagers have someone who needs to be groped." She felt him wince at her words but to her dismay he didn't make any movement to leave.

"I would except I'm curious as to why a miko was washed up on this village's riverbank. And why this miko is attired as a young boy when her figure is so obviously… a miko's." He said with amusement in his voice. Kagome whipped her head to face him.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"That your figure was a miko's? Well, according to _my _lessons in anatomy-" He started with a smirk.

"No, not that." Kagome scowled at him. "How I'm a miko. How did you know? And if you can sense it, how far would a youkai be able to sense it? Say, a taiyoukai… would he have to be close? Or could he sense it from a great distance-"

"Well, if you're talking about Sesshoumaru-sama, currently the most powerful taiyoukai in the land and soon to surpass his father who was the most powerful taiyoukai in his time, then I would advise you to start crawling to the deepest hole you can find."

Kagome felt like slapping herself for the umpteenth time. Her desperate plan conjured in that dank and lonely cell had worked, only to set off a chain of unbelievable events. Even this vulgar monk was referring to the youkai king in hushed respect. Exactly how revered (or feared) was this infamous youkai king? And what terrible events had she set off by injuring Sesshoumaru? She had correctly figured that death was what lied ahead of her, but if Sesshoumaru liked to play with his food… well, that was an entirely different matter. Wait… how did this monk know?

"You felt it?" She asked weakly once it hit her how he knew. Her mind had been so full of monk pervert that she had momentarily forgotten that additionally, monk user of magical powers.

"I felt anger bursting with the fire of a thousand suns- I assumed it was his." Miroku said dryly.

"And I assume that the great holy power I felt before his anger must be from you." The lecherous act was quickly gone and a grave look passed over the monk's face, making him seem eons older. "What have you done to incur his wrath?"

"Nothing for you to know." Kagome muttered. Things were turning worse than her optimistic mind had hoped. In her head, it had simply been "anger", not "wrath". Her naivety would be the death of her… If she had been dreadfully injured by some young little brute, she'd probably want to eat him too.

"It is if it concerns the safety of this village. What do you think the taiyoukai would do if he learnt that you received aid from them? I have heard nothing but tales of his cruelty." Miroku said, his dark eyes were so grave that it startled her. A sudden wave of guilt came along with the truth in the monk's words. Her short time with Sesshoumaru had given her a clear cut picture of his personality- cold, calculating, emotionless, and intolerant of failure. Sesshoumaru was the type of person who would obliterate an entire city to get what he wanted. If he could kill his brother over some treaty, there was no end to what he _wouldn't _do. Some very choice swear words were running through her head but none could express how stupid she felt. She couldn't let these villagers get hurt because of her.

"I'll take care of it." She said softly and turned her head away from the monk. After a few minutes, she heard him get up and leave. A million ideas ran through her head, each one tossed aside. Telling the villagers to say she never came- he would torture the truth out of them. Telling them to go and hide- he'd find them and then torture the truth out of them. Staying and persuading him to leave the villagers alive- he'd torture her. The only idea that made sense was to cover her scent here and leave. But how do you cover a scent? If it was just the simple idea of someone's perfume, then wind and time would blow it away. But a youkai's sensitive nose could even pick up emotions, or so she read. She sighed and wondered if anything she did would ever have a happy ending. Leaving home had nearly gotten her caught. Going with Inuyasha to prevent getting caught had gotten him killed. Trying to stop Inuyasha from getting killed had gotten her imprisoned. And the list of choices that had come to bad endings just went on and on. What could cover a scent so well that even a taiyoukai wouldn't be able to detect it? A strange noise brought her out of her brooding thoughts. She strained her ears to listen and shortly afterwards, began to laugh. The patter of raindrops on her walls began to increase until it turned into a regular storm. The very element that had saved her before now gave her another fighting chance. She was starting to believe in that twisted soul in heaven.

She had to leave now, while the rain could wash her scent as she left the village. Her muscles screamed in protest as she sat up and began to tear the bandages off. The stench from the medicine was terrible but it woke up her adrenaline and she ripped the bandages even faster. Wrapped in only the robe the inn had given her, she slid the door facing the courtyard open and was nearly thrown back by the combined force of cold rain and even colder wind. With a grunt, she managed to slide the door shut and she turned to face the courtyard. There was something wrong with this storm. She was drenched the second she stepped out and dread similar to what she felt to Sesshoumaru gut punched her in the stomach. It wasn't as strong as Sesshoumaru but it definitely left a nasty impression on her. Something was definitely wrong with this storm. The roof tiles were being blown off and all manner of village paraphernalia was flying around. Kagome threw herself to the side just as a bucket whipped by her and smashed into one of the inn's pillars. With a gulp, she carefully but hastily proceeded to the inn's entrance.

She was running down a path she could barely distinguish through the rain when the dread began to gather into a pinpoint in the distance- a very close distance. She dove into a bush just as a large clawed foot stepped down where she once stood. Through the ripped foliage of a bush, she saw a demon at least 30 feet tall surveying the village ahead. It was a dangerous looking lizard demon that was almost invisible in the storm setting because of its dark turquoise skin. She could smell the youki oozing from its skin but more powerful than that was its aura. She could feel the demon so clearly without even looking- it's age, it's power level, it's emotions. The demon stepped forward as thunder clapped, making the ground shake hard from the combined force of both. She gasped as a wave of murderous intent from the demon back lashed at her. It was going to attack the village.

Without another thought she took off running back to the village, desperate to catch up to the demon who was already far ahead with its long strides. What was the point of running away to save the village if another demon was going to destroy it? Yes, what could she do when she just realized her magical powers. But… it was better than doing nothing at all.

The monster had strangely stopped in the village square and wasn't even going about racking havoc and destruction on the weak huts. Instead, it's head turned this way and that, like it searching for something. Kagome used that time to flit from hut wall to hut wall, searching as well for a weapon. It briefly occurred to her that this was a similar situation to her stand off with Sesshoumaru but surely this demon couldn't be as intelligent as the taiyoukai. If ugliness was a measure of intelligence… Kagome took a quick peek at the youkai's face from behind a hut's wall… well, it appeared she had a fighting chance. Armed with a farming scythe, she stepped out with fading optimism that she would survive. At least she wasn't armed with chopsticks, but the demon's incredible height was what was daunting her the most. The demon's head turned to look at her and she could make out the evil glint in its red eyes, even through the dark veil of the storm. Anxiety twisted her stomach but she forced herself to take a step forward. _Where in seven hells do you get your bravery Kagome_. She asked herself as she took another step forward. Her legs were shaking terribly and she tried to convince herself it was from the river instead of stark fear.

Faster than she anticipated the demon to be capable of, it was before her with its head bent down until it nearly crashed on top of her head. Kagome squealed and fell backwards into a deep puddle. The scythe fell into the darkness and Kagome sat frozen as she waited for the demon to scoop her up with its massive jaws. Instead it smelled her deeply and a chest rumbling growl of disgust made her jump. The demon stood straight with its hand to its nose, revolted by the medicine that once wrapped Kagome. She scrambled to stand back up and thanked the medicine woman with all her heart.

"Shikon!" It bellowed. It's words were almost lost in the clap of thunder but Kagome distinctly heard it. "Where is it?!!!! I smell it somewhere!!!"

Shoot. The demon was definitely mad now. Kagome slipped into a hut before the demon could see her again. A teenage girl in the robes of a miko was huddled in the corner of the hut with a stew ladle clenched tight in her hands.

"Shouldn't you be out there doing that magic thing miko's do?" Kagome hissed at her. The girl shook her head in fright.

"I'm only an apprentice! My teacher went to the neighbor village to help with youkai attacks there." The young girl hissed back. "I can't do anything except dress wounds!"

Frustration welled up inside her and Kagome could only snatch the bow and arrows that the apprentice miko couldn't use and run outside. The youkai was still there and was about to step on a hut when Kagome screamed to get its attention. The scream worked and Kagome nocked the arrow in place, hopefully in the correct manner she had seen noble ladies do in the yards. She pointed it directly at the youkai's face and released. She gaped in dismay as the arrow flew a foot in front of her, if flew was the right word. A hand the size of her body crashed down and she avoided it just in time. A spray of mud smacked her in the face but she swiftly had another arrow nocked in place and she aimed at the hand right next to her. She didn't miss but it hopelessly bounced off of the youkai's thick turquoise skin. However, for just a fraction of a second, she could have sworn she saw a purple flicker enveloping the arrow. With a plan set in her head, she ran to the meadow next to the village, hoping to lure the demon away from the huts filled with people. The earth before her crashed and she looked up to the see the demon grinning in front of her. How had he jumped that far? He smacked her with his coarse hand during her moment of surprise and she flew in the air, landing several feet away. The storm had softened the ground but Kagome's breath was knocked out anyways. The bow had disappeared in the field of grass and Kagome stared up at the youkai with wheezing breaths, helpless once more. She silently willed that purple power to save her like last time but nothing appeared. No warmth spilled from her hands and into the air to save the day. There was only the cold rain battering her face and Kagome licked her lips, tasting earth. Death seemed to be her best friend these days.

The wind turned into a powerful vortex and the youkai roared, turning its attention to a dim figure in the distance. The wind was starting to pull her towards that figure and the next thing she knew she was flying in the air and into Miroku's arms. She stared in shocked at his resolute face as he gently placed her on the ground behind him. He flung his arm out and undid the rosary that encircled his hand. The vortex from before was back and pulling at the demon with a stronger force than before.

"Kazaana!" Miroku shouted and the vortex intensified, pulling the demon closer to them. With an ear shattering roar the demon swiped at them with a powerful swing of its bulky arm. One of its clawed fingers struck Miroku in the head and the vortex abruptly stopped as the monk's body was thrown into a clump of tall grass.

"Shit!" Kagome yelped as she sprinted from the youkai's reach. Her foot caught on something and she fell face forward, just missing the youkai's next swipe. She looked down to see her lost bow tangled in her foot. She still had a few arrows left in the quiver on her back… there was still some hope. She stood with an arrow nocked once more and pointed at the demon. Her back was straight, feet spread apart, and something clicked in place. She willed with all her soul that the magic would work this time and she closed her eyes as she released. Burning warmth flew from her hands and she opened her eyes to see a purple shooting star fly true towards the youkai and through it, disintegrating the demon completely in its path. As suddenly as it started, the storm eased down until it was gone completely. Kagome dropped her bow and ran to where she saw Miroku fall. He was sitting up with only a large bruise blossoming across his left eye. He smiled weakly at her and she gave a sigh of relief.

"You sure took your time getting here." She said as she helped him stand and they both limped back to the village. A crowd of villagers were waiting for them in the square and they all cheered at the sight of the two survivors.

"You sure took your time manifesting your powers." He said quietly as two men lifted him to take him to the medicine woman.

Kagome could only stare at the monk as more villagers led her to the inn to rest. The adrenaline from before disappeared and Kagome dropped onto the futon just as two women began to undress her. They were clucking their tongues at the sight of her bruises and Kagome could only blissfully fall unconscious to the sounds of their occasional gasps.

She woke up to the afternoon sunlight hitting her face. A shadow moved to block the warm light and she blinked to see Miroku looking down at her. A light breeze sent a chill through her chest and she realized why the monk was staring. A slap and quick adjustment of her robe later, she was sitting outside, far away from the monk.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked him as an inn worker scurried by with broken wreckage from the storm.

"Two days." Miroku said solemnly with his hands in his sleeves.

"TWO DAYS?" Kagome yelled. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner? Weren't you the one stressing about the safety of the villagers?" She glared at the monk as she ran back into her room. Luckily her clothes were cleaned and neatly placed next to her futon. She closed the door for privacy and threw off her robe without delay.

"Oh kami-sama, Sesshoumaru is probably only a mile away." Kagome muttered as she tied her thick hair back. Messy tendrils escaped her clumsy fingers but she couldn't be bothered with appearances. The dread of certain death in Sesshoumaru's hands was back with enforcements. Two days had been wasted. Two days in which she could have ran like a madman and increased the distance between her and the vengeful youkai.

"I haven't felt his energy near the village." Miroku said, trying to reassure her. "But I can only detect about five miles out. It would be best if we left today."

"We?" Kagome said disbelievingly as she stepped out. The monk didn't answer her question and only stood to walk into the room next to hers. He came out bearing two small packs and tossed one of them to her.

"Yes, _we_ are going to leave this village and _I'm_ going to help you cover your tracks." He ushered her out of the inn courtyard.

"You don't seem to understand. Sesshoumaru is after _me_ and he'll probably kill you in the process. Does the worth death have any meaning to you?" She argued as villagers waved farewell when they walked by.

"Believe me, I know the word death very well." Miroku said as he expertly led her through the meadow that had been their battlefield two days ago. "This is for you, by the way. I figure it will come in handy once you can harness the Shikon better." He pulled a bow and a quiver full of arrows from his flowing robes and handed them to her.

"Shikon?" She asked as she slipped the quiver on. "Wasn't that what the youkai was looking for?"

"Yes. And to put it more correctly, he was looking for _you_." He said.

"Shit."

* * *

His nose was becoming weary of the strain he was putting on it. He had been sniffing for miles now, trying to catch any remnant of her scent on the sides of the river. Perhaps she had truly died, as Jaken foolishly stated before. But something told him she was still alive, waiting for him to snuff out the pathetic light that was her life. He stopped once more on a tree branch and sniffed the area around yet another river bank. 

Hopeless.

A large storm had passed by the area recently and washed away what could have been her scent on one of the many rocky banks he had passed by. But his anger pressed him to go on. His guesses were usually right and he would patiently wait until it was. For now, his entire attention was focused on finding her scent which, strangely, was annoyingly pleasant. It wasn't like the smelly villagers that occupied his land or the corrosive scent from layers of spilt blood on youkai. It was jasmine that bloomed under the silver light of the moon. Originally, he had expected to find malice and fear in that wench's scent, and fear he did find. But regret? He had thought it was regret for her insolence but it was a deeper regret, one rooted from something he did not understand.

There. He smelled old blood on some rocks. Her blood…

Smoke from a nearby village caught his eye and his mouth curved in a predatory grin. It had been a while since he'd been on such a fine chase. This wench was more entertainment than he thought he could ever get from a puny mortal. He would take great pleasure in torturing her and maybe, if she kept the chase interesting, he would torture her a bit less than he had planned.

The stench of one of his fellow youkai grew stronger as he walked closer to the village. The smell of the youkai's death was in the air, mixed with the wench's magical power. She certainly had been busy if she killed someone from the famed lizard family. They were all pompous idiots, but they also had the power to back up that bloated pride. This was becoming very interesting…

He flexed his claws and stepped out onto the crop field where some villagers were working to replant it. They all looked up and froze in fear. Ah, he hadn't terrorized this village in a long time. In a unified movement, they all prostrated themselves on the muddy ground, shaking in his presence. Now why couldn't that wench do the same when she was in his presence? He looked at them with a cool eye. This was how all of humanity should appear before the greatness of a taiyoukai, bowing on the dirty floor.

"The girl." His voice crept out and all the villagers winced.

"S-she headed east with the monk this morning." One of the villagers said, his head hidden underneath his arms. "W-we didn't aid her in any way." He shaked.

Pathetic humans. They lacked any spine to be a proud race. The wench's defiant face flashed in his mind and he mentally batted the image away. She was an exception that would be made as an example to all humans.

He faced east and proceeded to leisurely walk, giving her more time to run. It would be no fun if he found her so quickly. Especially if he wanted to play with her before killing her off…

* * *

Author's Note: Mm, yes, its been a while, mostly in part to me losing all my documents in a computer crash and being severely depressed for months about it (i had a chapter nearly done for almost all my stories!). Please leave a nice review, they are great for instilling optimism in me again. I hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment, its really been too long. To all readers who are still with me, thank you!!!!!!!! (and keep having faith, well, if u have any anyways) 

Echo: ah yeah, the low word count, I'm trying to correct that, hopefully starting with this chapter

Silver inu: mm, my writing could use improvement, I'm going to try to stir things up some more in the next chapter.

Voulez vous: hahaha, well, the arm thing will be dealt with later, so no worries

Koday: I put in some whininess because of her background as a princess. She will become more the original kagome later on, for sure


	6. The Run

-Kiss Me or Kill Me

Chapter 6: The Run

She looked down at the patchy dirt road in weariness and winced as a salty sweat drop glided into her eye. Her clothes were soaked from the half jog, half walk the travelers had been maintaining for hours but still… she stood up and nodded to Miroku. Desperation had licked at their heels for many a mile and adrenalin fueled that desperation until it ran out around midday. But still they could not stop. Worry had chased her the entire morning- worry of her life, worry of the villagers, worry of her kingdom. Could she really continue running away like this her entire life? She had ran from her problems only to fall into more problems, in which she would probably run from again. Her feet would probably fall apart before she could ever get anywhere.

She was about to start running again when Miroku pulled at her arm. She looked at him in alarm and he shook his head, it wasn't Sesshoumaru. She followed his gaze to something off in the distance and suddenly, she felt it too. It felt heavy, almost sticky, and it was hungrily reaching out to both of them. It licked at their power and liked what it tasted, immediately latching itself onto them like a parasite.

"Ugh!" Kagome swatted at the invisible force that hung around them. Miroku rolled his eyes and pulled out one of his fudas, sticking one on her forehead. The air lightened immediately and the power whirled off towards where they had been gazing at before.

"What was that?" Kagome asked, still shaking off the feeling of something sucking on her body.

"We're going to find out and see." Miroku said, changing their direction towards that hungry force.

"Are you crazy? You want to go towards that?" Kagome exclaimed, but following him nonetheless. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her.

"I'm a traveling monk." He said. She gave him a blank look and he rolled his eyes at her once more. "I travel around and dispel sources of evil. I may be aiding you since I am such a gentleman, but foremost, I must help people." He continued into a forest that grew thicker and darker.

"What about Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"Sesshoumaru will find you eventually. Make yourself useful and help a village with your powers before it goes to waste." He said with a wave of his hand. Kagome's eyes went wide in surprise and she was about to launch into a verbal attack when Miroku pushed aside a tall bush to reveal a dark city. The long streets continued farther than she could see but there wasn't a person in sight. There wasn't any twitchy feelings of evil or power but the emptiness of life was just as alarming. Kagome could feel her nervousness being pushed to the brink of pure anxiety. Her gut told her that she shouldn't be here but her moral conscience refused to get beaten by a perverted, yet strangely moral monk. Miroku pushed her ahead and Kagome glared at him as she walked into the empty street. Windows were closed and stalls were vacant, there wasn't even a presence of life. Visions of lonely ghosts and hungry monsters seemed ready to jump at her from every dark corner as they made their way further into the city. Miroku looked at her in exasperation.

"You can singlehandedly take on powerful 30 foot tall demons, but not an empty street?" He asked her as they passed by a particularly haunting house.

"Oh, right." Kagome said sheepishly, remembering the terror of that night. But, at least she had seen death coming face to face. It was so different from anticipating death that could get her at any time. _Ah, can't forget about Sesshoumaru now either._ She sighed. It appeared that the past few days had covered any fears she had in her once innocent past.

They finally arrived at an opulent palace that seemed equally the size of the city itself. The gates were only partially ajar, just enough to let bodies pass by but nothing else. Miroku was silent the entire time as they traversed through a maze of hallways and doors. Kagome could only follow his lead, unsure of what to make of this whole mess and of whether the monk actually knew where he was going. An entire city's population disappearing without a trace? She had thought to see at least a few bodies or physical damage as a testament to some disaster but it was empty... and _clean_. Nothing was out of place and there wasn't even a speck of dust to signify human life. When opening a pair of grand doors, Kagome shrieked to see a king at the far end, sagging his chair with his hand covering his eyes. He was gloriously dressed with flowing red robes and glimmering gold in his hair and on his arms. But for all his glory, there were no rows of attendants and officials to compliment it. Poorly lit lamps only threw the long room into a heavy atmosphere. At the sound of the open door he sprang awake and ran down to meet them, the ends of his robes snapping at the preternaturally fast movement. His eyes were wild as they got closer, the whites of his eyes almost seemed to glow more than the light from the lamps.

"You are here to save us?" He asked desperately, pulling at Kagome's hand rather than hopping to the properly solemn Miroku. His clammy hands felt strange and wet on her skin and she gave a weak smile while trying to pry them off politely. Why was he going to her when Miroku was clearly the monk? His iron grip guided Kagome to a sideroom when a young man laid asleep. He would have been handsome if it wasn't for the ghastly color of his skin complimenting his almost sheer white robe. His face was deathly pale and if it wasn't for the soft rise and fall of his chest, she would have thought him dead.

"What happened?" Kagome asked quietly as they all sat around the young man. The king wrung his hands and kept touching the bracelets on his wrists. She looked closer to see a cluster of strange symbols carved into the gold. He noticed her stare and he quickly pulled his sleeves over the jewelry as he flung himself on top of his son.

"A month ago, people started disappearing. We sent word to surrounding mikos and monks but none came. I and my family didn't dare to leave the palace but as you can see now, my one and only son is now about to leave me like the rest." He cried into the sleeves of his billowing robes. He made a convincing actor but Kagome could clearly see he was leaving parts of his story out.

Miroku patiently patted the king on his back and motioned Kagome to leave the room. "I'll stay here and look for clues, I want you to go around the city and see if there is anybody still alive."

"By myself?" Kagome snapped at him but the monk had already turned his head away, giving an attentive ear to the king instead. That was it? No further explanation or even any questioning? Just go out and find clues? Her soft steps was swallowed by the palace's silence and she gave a gulp as she stepped out into the steadily darkening street. Dark clouds hung low over the city, so close she felt like she could jump and graze the bottom of the cloud with her fingertips. She peered here and there but all the houses were empty. _Gah, what am I doing? I should be running for my life, not solving a mystery. _True, there was nothing to fear since she had beaten death once with an arrow and was now expecting death again sometime in the future. But there was something about being alone that made everything reluctantly clearer. She settled herself on a small stall's bench and tried to get her thoughts together. Obviously, the monk had other ideas in mind pertaining to her safety. If she had known what a load of crock he was, she wouldn't have agreed to take his aid. But... it felt so good to have someone at her side, to have someone to walk with (albeit away from death). She could leave right now and go her own way, but she couldn't leave this place without telling him. What if he ran around looking for her and something happened? The prospect of more guilt on her shoulders wouldn't let her do that. That lecher had enough morality in him to listen to a grieving king and save a city. And he had a point, the legendary youkai called Sesshoumaru hunting the puny human Kagome would be no different from a wolf hunting a bunny that was already trussed up for it to eat.

Her head fell weakly into her hands as uncomfortable thoughts began to fill her head. Be a hero and die sooner. Be a coward and die later. Live on her knees or die on her feet. At her age, she would have never guessed that these sort of decisions would fall upon her but here she was. She hadn't even had her first kiss or fallen in love. She gave a snicker into her hands. Maybe Sesshoumaru wouldn't mind imparting a few last requests to his prey. She suddenly wondered how she would die in his hands. A claw through the heart like Inuyasha or perhaps, strangulation, which was slower and more appropriate for revenge. If she had a breathe to spare before death, then why not; why not ask her murderer to kiss her and then kill her. He wasn't a senseless pyschopath but a cold, logical machine that killed for reasons only, even if they were petty. Death was a high price to pay for an arm, especially for a regenerating immortal. But, she didn't really hate him. He was an twisted bastard and definitely someone she would not want to be in the same room with. But when he wanted something done, it got done. And when he declared to do something, he would do it. He was someone who never strayed from his path and she admired that, in her own little sick and twisted way.

She released a deep breath into her hands, putting into it all her troubles and worries. If she was going to die so uncomfortably soon, she might as well be useful and save a few people with her strange powers. Besides, would a day or two of extra living really be worth being a coward? The conclusion was simple, but she was a simple person so it was only fitting. With that decided she slapped her hands on her thighs and stood up, renewed with the energy of a final decision. She winced at her own pun. It would be a final decision, wouldn't it?

So far she had only stayed on the main road but it was time for a change of tactics. She looked into one of the small alleyways that split away from the road and took a deep gulp before stepping into it. Her footsteps were swallowed so quickly by the darkness that she felt she was walking in a dream. She tried to keep the fear at bay with images of Sesshoumaru's livid face but it was proving to be futile as he was just too damned good looking for his own good. Beautiful people really did have it easy in life. Not even murder could take away the ethereal quality of the youkai's looks. Instead, every sound had her jumping and cringing until she saw a tiny light in the distance. Success! She ran like her life depended on it towards that lovely source but the distance didn't seem to be closing. If anything, she was nearly at the outskirts of the city and still the light danced before her, teasing her to run faster than her weak legs could take her. She was already exhausted from running all morning. Her wheezing breaths sounded too loud amongst the unnatural silence of the forest and she immediately stopped, turning her head here and there. Something was _wrong_. Forests were never really quiet. The wind rattling leaves and animals scampering here and there were a constant background noise, but this was nothing; like living things were terrified to come near here and a single sound of life would be the catalyst for danger. The light vigorously shook itself, as if it was irritated at her for stopping to rest. She grumbled a few choice curse words she had picked up at the stables and started her jog again, this time through an overgrown path. After what seemed like ages, the light suddenly disappeared when she arrived at an old hut. All her natural instincts screamed at her to run away but she had come too far. She pushed the ragged door curtain aside and let a sliver of moonlight fill an empty room with a hole in the ground. Something hissed at the corner of the room and Kagome was about to let out a blood curdling scream when a soft object jumped at her and covered her mouth.

"SSH!!!!!" The thing whispered to her angrily. It pulled her out of the hut and into the cover of a nearby bush. There was a tiny pop and something that felt like a soft cloth covered her. "This will hide you but if you utter a single sound, it'll be the end for you!" The thing threatened her before falling silent.

Kagome was about to protest when that tiny sliver of moonlight disappeared. Her eyes peered through the sheer cloth to see a large, hulky person fall from the sky and then drag itself towards the hut. After ten minutes, the person came out again and leaped into the sky once more. Kagome fought down a gasp as the person, the thing disappeared into the cover of trees. The cloth moved itself off of her with a pop and Kagome looked down to see a tiny fox boy with his hands on his hips.

"After all my work, you took forever to get here!" He complained in a no nonsense manner. She almost giggled as she grabbed him and held him closer for a better look. She had never seen a kitsune cub but she had read about them in the library. They were famed as trickesters but this cute little cub looked like he could barely harm a flea! He was wearing a little green gi that went well with his own forest green eyes and red fur. "Hey!" He screeched at her as she pulled at his tail. "Eyes up here!"

"Mm, yes?" Kagome said as she settled him on her lap.

"This is no time to be a girl when your man is about to be in danger!" The cub said. "He's being seduced as we speak and you two are next on the menu for the frog king."

"Frog king?" Kagome asked worriedly as her original plan came back to memory. "Seduced? What happened to this place?"

"Youkai came in and devoured this place, driving out all us lower youkai, that's what's going on. And since you and the monk are about the only beings I've come across that can beat 'em, I'm willing to help out a couple of weak humans." The cub said with his arms crossed.

"Weak eh?" Kagome muttered as the fox boy began to drag her back to the hut. He pointed at the hole below and Kagome looked to see what appeared to be dozens of humongous eggs sacs filled with human beings. She had found the city's population but there was an alarmingly short amount of people. Where were the rest?

"They have stashes like these hidden here and there in the city, this one is used the least which is why I brought you. The youkai sucks these guys up when they need a meal or healing. The frog king gets the human prince all to himself, which leaves the other guys verrry hungry." The cub explained impatiently. He paced back and forth in a manner that seemed more suitable for those much older than him. "While I release the rest of the humans, I need you and the monk to distract and defeat the higher ups. With the humans out of the way, they won't keep regenerating, which will give you the chance."

"Uhm, how many more of these frog kings are there?" Kagome asked as she watched his nervous movements.

"The frog king and some of his court are in the palace. It's the lizard youkai that roam the city and guard it. You need to take out the king and the rest will scatter."

Kagome froze and the cub looked at her in curiosity. "Did you just say lizard youkai? 30 foot tall with power over weather? Terrible temper? Kind of dumb?" She asked, horrified of the answer she might get.

"These guys are only about 10 feet tall, the tallest one are usually the kings and leaders." He said, confirming her worst nightmares. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be the human who took out this clan's beloved queen a few days ago, would you?" Kagome groaned even more into her hands. _That_ ugly disgusting creatures was what their queen looked like? She could only imagine what the king had in store for her. The fox cub slapped at her hands so he could peer down at her face. "If you have the power to take on the queen, I'd say you have a chance against the frog king. Now hurry, or else your monk will be dead by dawn!"

"Urgh!" Kagome groaned again as he proceeded to drag her back to the city. "Wait, you know, that lizard queen was a complete misunderstanding that led to a rather unexpected outcome. They don't hold a grudge now, do they?" She gave a weak laugh.

The fox boy snickered but didn't look back. "They heard about the human miko who slaughtered their beloved queen without mercy. They are told to save you for the king, but not necessarily alive."

Kagome had nothing to say to that as the fox boy pulled her into a run, stop to sniff the air, then pull again. Several times they had to hide in a hut as a large, ominous shadow would pass by. Kagome didn't have to peek to know it was the lizard sentries the cub had been talking about. The bow was an uncomfortable weight at her back that reminded her of her still weak abilities to aim, let alone fire an arrow. Between getting mauled by a vindictive family of lizard youkai or the merciless killing of Sesshoumaru, Kagome wavered in her choice. In a fantasy world, she would die like any other normal human being, perhaps by a throw from a horse or maybe even a debilitating disease. She gave her 2nd sigh of the day as she weighed the facts. She had to save all those people and Miroku with just herself, and perhaps a fox boy sidekick, that is if he even decided to help her out. From how he talked, he would be watching at the sidelines. But then, isn't this what those storybooks were always about? A fabulous hero who saves the day? Somehow, the facts of her life had skewed the hero story beyond recognition.

The fox boy pointed down a small street. "That is the way to the monk's prison. I'm going to start releasing the humans. If you fail, everybody dies." He popped into a pink balloon that gently floated away, leaving Kagome by herself.

"As if I need you to remind me." She muttered as she began to jog up the street. She reached a side gate of the palace and with stealthy steps, slipped inside with no trouble. The courtyard was, of course, empty of life but she was still cautious. There was too much open space for her to sneak against the walls, it could only be a straight shot from the gate to the palace building. She tried to concentrate for youkai energy around her but there was nothing she could sense. She had two choices, either her senses were working and there was really no demon in vicinity or her senses weren't working and she would be caught, hence leaving everybody to death. She sent a prayer to kami and a death threat to the absent Miroku and sprinted across the stone tiles. She reached the door and jumped inside just as the click of sharp claws fell on the same tiles she had just ran on. She fought down her breaths as the unmistakable presence of youkai trailed outside. She could feel them now, very subtly, but it was a better start than she could ever hope for. She concentrated on that presence until it grew into a solid shape in her mind. Her heartbeat felt as loud as drumbeats as the youkai prowled closer towards her. Finally, it went away and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. She slowly stood up and crept down the hallway in search of Miroku. She scrunched her nose and tried to concentrate even further. Slight pressures of energy began to appear on her mental radar. There were four sources towards the left ahead and two on the right, but all six were very much demon energy. It was the one straight ahead of her that worried her the most. It was like a hungry fire licking and devouring everything it could reach. Was this the same parasitic power that had tried to latch onto her and Miroku earlier? She pushed that painful thought aside and tried to concentrate even further. Miroku's power would be different from the youkai inhabiting the city so all she had to do was find the anomaly. In the far right she felt a dim flickering energy that was different from the youki all around her. With a grim smile, she took the first right corridor and let her senses lead the way.

She dipped into rooms and pushed passed shoji doors as she avoided any youkai she felt. Her path led her down into the dank dungeons that held prisoners and offenders. There was a small lit cell at the very end and she ran with all her might to it but was thrown off to the side and into metal cell bars. She thought she felt something crack but didn't have enough time to process as the breath was knocked out of her body. She gagged and coughed as she desperately sucked in air. A geta sandal came into view and she followed it all the way up to a beautiful woman in a 7 layer kimono. Her face was empty of malice but her foot had a different motive as it proceeded to kick her hard in the chest. Kagome blocked the kick with her arm and scrambled to get up. Her world spun in dark colors and she thought she would fall but the woman's slap brought her back to reality. Kagome returned the slap with a closed fist and ran towards the last cell again before the woman could react. A tackle from behind prevented her and Kagome felt the breath knocked out of her for the second time. With a furious yell, Kagome kicked the woman away and reached for the metal fire stand in front of her. Her fingers barely grazed it when the woman dragged her away with an incredible strength. Kagome turned and kicked her legs out of the woman's hold. She swiped her leg across the other woman's legs, knocking her down. Taking the opportunity, Kagome dashed to the cell to see Miroku slumped to the side. With a groan, Kagome grabbed the fire stand in time to block another attack from the vicious woman. With a hearty clonk on the head, the woman crumbled down and Kagome finally had time to breathe. She looked around for a set of keys and found none hanging on the walls. She groaned again. Her day couldn't get any worse and she was so exhausted and she had to have broken something in that sudden scuffle and just where were the damned keys? She pulled herself to the unconscious woman and searched through her clothes but found nothing. With a shriek of frustration, Kagome kicked at the bars and blankly stared as the door swung invitingly open. She mechanically walked in, pulled the monk up by the front of his robe and proceeded to slap him awake. She had risked capture to save him only to find out that he was never locked up in the first place. Fury just couldn't quite describe it.

"Owww." Miroku moaned at her as he blinked awake. He held his sore cheek as he stood up.

"The door wasn't locked." Kagome said flatly as he grabbed his staff and led them up and out of cell area.

"Eh, yes," Miroku bit his lip. "She though it would be interesting in the dungeons, and really, who could say no to a lady. Especially one with such aim." He said while lightly touching a bump on his head. "But I did garner enough information that the king is being possessed by a frog youkai and eating off the prince's spiritual energy."

"And?" Kagome asked as they began to approach closer to that hungry source.

"And what? We defeat it, take the spoils of reward, and run like mad till your Sesshoumaru finds you." He said as he began to pull out fudas.

"Don't call him that." She muttered to him as she nervously pulled out her thankfully unbroken bow and arrows. She nocked an arrow in place and aimed to the front as they arrived at the pair of grand doors again. This time, the king openly released his powers and she felt him sucking at her life force. Miroku slapped a fuda on her forehead and his before kicking open the doors. The terrible wind vortex ripped into the air and sucked everything in the room in. Several hapless youkai managed to get caught and disappeared into the strange hole in Miroku's palm. Kagome peered around the room and saw the king with the sleeping prince in his arms. The king looked at her with a grin on his face and released the prince.

"No!" Kagome leaped on Miroku's arm to stop the vortex. The monk saw the prince flying towards them and immediately wrapped his hand in the buddha bead but the prince crashed into him, throwing them through the wall of the room behind them. The frog king was on her in a second with a giant leap. He grabbed her by the neck and she felt him try to suck her dry but the fuda did its job. He was too close to shoot but just perfect to stab. Kagome willed her powers through the arrow and slammed the sharp object into the king's eye. Again, her powers only glimmered for brief moment but it was enough time to penetrate the king's defenses. The frog king roared out in anger as blood poured out from his useless eye. His cries came out in a guttural language and Kagome's miko senses wailed at impending danger. More than 20 lizard youkai were speeding towards her and she didn't have the heart to feel scared. She turned to look at Miroku who was almost conveniently knocked out from being thrown through a wall. The frog king had moved to the center of the room, wailing out his calls but still holding his bloodied eye in pain. Well, at least she had done something. In no time at all, the 20 lizard youkai came with bloodlust in their auras. Their eyes recognized her and with dismay, she could see the resemblance of the queen in her counterparts. Licking their chops, seven of them stepped forward towards her. Kagome immediately nocked at arrow in place and cried inside at why fate couldn't tip the odds in her favor for once.

"You will _die_ for killing our beautiful queen." The lizards hissed.

"Beautiful? HA!" Kagome laughed, hoping her confidence sounded convincing. It certainly didn't to her ears and her eyes were sinking too as seven 10 feet tall lizards drew close.

Arrow after arrow flew but her magic wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried. Her arrows were no where near powerful enough to rip the tough hide of the lizards. At this distance, she was able to hit a few but they pitifully bounced off their skin. She was so tired. Her body ached from all the running and tossing and fighting she had been doing in the past few days. She wanted so badly to win this fight. She kept screaming inside for her powers to come out like it did before and save her, save everyone! But only weariness answered. She dove to the right to avoid getting mauled by a claw and ran away, hoping to draw the enemy away from the unconscious prince and Miroku. Her lungs squeezed in anger and every step seemed to draw her chest tighter. Was it the fatigue or tears? She stumbled out of the gates and onto the street and turned to greet dozens of youkai lurking from empty houses and rooftops. They all stared at her silently without making a single move. The frog king fell from the sky with his eye still bleeding heavily from her arrow. His was the only movement as he strode forward.

"What have you done with my precious stores?" The king asked her angrily. "This will scar my exquisite face if I don't heal it soon!"

Kagome felt brief relief that at least the city people would survive this fight. The fox boy had done his part but would she be able to do hers?

_Please, just this once, come out even if I can't do it myself. Just come out and do that purply thing and just save the day so I can at least live till its over_.

She nocked her last arrow in place and aimed straight at the king. Nothing in her body or heart clicked in place and told her her stance was right. There was no indication that she would be able to succeed and a bitter tear escaped from her narrowed eyes.

"Save me." She whispered to herself as she let go.

~*~*~*~*~

He stared at her from the distance in complete safety. The lizard youkai were all too engrossed in their hunt of the queen killer to notice his presence. Not that they would since he had hidden his youki completely. In all honesty, he had to hand it to her for getting so far and doing so much in the short amount of time he gave her. He really did try to walk slowly but her growing scent seemed to spark an urge in him. He had eagerly followed her tired fragrance on the road to the striking fear in the deserted city. Watching her run here and there to save the pitiful humans was almost a fascinating picture to see. She was such a fool to waste her precious time to live on these wasted beings.

And her face, what a laugh. It was like watching fireworks that flitted and transitioned into different colors and back again. She was scared one moment then content the other. Nothing seemed to stay for long in those cobalt eyes. She was dangerously close to being interesting and he did not like that at all. Art could be interesting, kami, even other youkai could be interesting. But humans? Never.

However, he looked on in interest as the lizard youkai crowded around her, blocking all possible exits. Her fingers trembled as she put the arrow in place and her body swayed in tiredness but she didn't move from her spot. Her captivating face begged for a miracle to happen but still, she held the bow, moving it up to aim. She was completely out of league in this fight, they would all kill her with just a flick of their finger. If she was remotely intelligent, she would beg for forgiveness. But no, there was no sign of giving up in her.

He unknowingly shifted his weight, his feet getting ready to spring forward.

What was wrong with this girl? The odds were obviously against her, why didn't she look defeated?

He felt all the youkai stir in readiness to attack and his eyes couldn't move away from her face.

Her lips mouthed something and he was lightning.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Something exploded all around her and she ducked to the ground as things began to rain down from the sky. Kagome peeked through her fingers to see blood and chunky bits fall all around her. A few seconds later it all stopped and steps came close to her head.

She looked up to meet Sesshoumaru's sun gold eyes and only one word could describe the entirety of her predicament.

"Shit."

A predatory smirk materialized on his elegant face.

"I've got you now."

"W-wait! Just one second!" She yelled with her face still unable to tear itself away from his golden eyes. Surprisingly, he stayed his hand and waited for her to speak.

Why was he listening to her? She, of all beings, had somehow managed to add seconds to her fast declining life. But he did find her utterly amusing; perhaps these last seconds would increase the number of years he would spend mulling over this interesting hunt. She gulped as her eyes made a quick jump from his clawed fingers and back to his eyes.

"Proceed." He said impatiently. Was this girl really going to waste the remainder of her life with silence? She jumped at the sound of his voice, which appeared to knock her out of her reverie because the look in her eyes now changed. It was back to that sorrowful regret he had locked into his brain after hours of tracking.

"Before you kill me, there's something you need to know...about the treaty and my-" She finally looked away from him, choosing to stare instead at the dirty hem of her pants. "The king." She pursed her lips with resolve and gave him a hard look. He almost let a smile escape his lips from the constant changes in the peasant's face. She really was entertaining.

"He was planning on cheating you with a false bride so he could secure the lands in the east with the real princess!" She blurted out. The temperature around them felt like it dropped a hundred degrees as the taiyoukai's eyes drilled into her. "That's why Inuyasha and I came back without any warning, to tell you in secret but you- you had to be _you_ and kill Inuyasha before even asking for his side of the story!" Tears spilled over and dragged itself down her muddied cheeks, resisting every inch of the way until it fell into a dirty splatters on her shirt. "I-I didn't mean to take away your arm but what's done is done. You have done your dirty deed and I have done mine. But unlike you, I choose to pay the consequences." She glared at him, daring him to kill her and his fingers itched to slap away that look of defiance in her face. Humans should never be defiant or proud or angry. Subservient humans were the only humans he was willing to tolerant and this wench would be no different. "Take the king of the north down." She said softly as she closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of his wrath. "If not for yourself, then for what he will do if he is not stopped."

He grabbed the front of her shirt and easily lifted her into the air. Her body was limp from fatigue but her determined face never faltered for a second. He took a deep breath to ready her death and instead, got a heady waft of her scent filling his head. Sorrowful jasmine...

Well, he was a man of his word, after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*Well, I hope nobody has forgotten me quite yet. I'm still around and still trying to work on a couple of chapters here and there when I have time. There is a lot to add for this story and I really do intend to finish this. Pllllllease keep reviewing and keep my spirits up about writing. I really do read all of the reviews. I hope this chapter wasn't too cruel~

predator808- aha, it really has been awhile huh? here's your update!

Jen konoha-wow really? 2004? and only 6 chapters, thats almost a chapter a year. you're right, it is pretty sad

the rogue prince- thanks for your continued interest in this story, hope the chapter was alright. I tend to rush sometimes because I know you guys are waiting for an update

..- repressed sexuality.. * snicker* I wouldn't be surprised

strawberry lover- i'm actually having trouble on how to put sango into the story, she might not actually play a part as I want to keep this story under 20 chapters.


	7. The Spell

Kiss me or Kill Me

Chapter 7: The Spell

* * *

Closing her eyes was definitely the optimal way in dealing with death. With all potential dangers dealt with and the last one effortlessly lifting her in the air, she felt strangely safe enough to rest her weary eyes. Her powers were completely spent and there was no way Sesshoumaru would allow himself to get stabbed again, not that she had anything sharp at her disposal anyways. This was simply the last moment of her life. Sadly, contrary to what the books painted in mystical detail, her life did not flash by in a series of images and memories. Her most agonizing regrets did not parade themselves in her head. Fear did not grip her body into a paralyzing stiffness. In the few anticipatory seconds before death, there was only the throbbing ache in her muscles and bones and the powerful clawed grip on her shirt. A minute ticked by and Kagome felt her patience wearing thin. She snapped her eyes open and glared at death, expecting a hearty glare back. Instead, death had his amber eyes furrowed in not anger, but with what Kagome dared to think was hesitation.

"Well? Get on with it!" She prodded him in a last attempt of bravery. His amber eyes narrowed in annoyance at her boldness and Kagome felt herself shrink even smaller in his hold, but she tucked her chin out in a last act of defiance. His lips pulled into a malicious line that hid a tugging smile at her childish gesture. _Indeed, she is too amusing_.

"You've been hunting me for days and now you have me. What are you waiting for?" She pointed out. "Unless you miraculously developed a shred of mercy?" She said, a touch of sarcasm in her tired voice.

Her honesty would be the death of her. He couldn't pinpoint why his hand was so slow when it usually dealt out death in mere seconds. _Easy seconds_. He thought with a huff. Something inside was gnawing at him to stay his hand. Before she came along, life had a steady pattern. No matter what fate threw his way, his power had always been enough to smooth his path once more. Perhaps he yearned to traverse on a rougher trail that would better test his power. Or maybe he just needed a distraction from the century long habit he had dubbed life. He peered into her eyes, wondering if the answer could be found in those dark depths. Her sarcasm from before had briefly fired up her spirit and he felt his own rising up in challenge. If she had been smarter, he suspected she would have lasted longer. Yet, she decided to waste her last moments of life on humans she had no obligation to. What was she? She had exposed incredible powers to save her life, yet she went so easily astray to save others. She had given a potentially fatal blow to this Sesshoumaru, but could have died easily to some lower class youkai? He felt almost... _offended_. Doubtless, she had the power to mow down armies of lower tiered youkai. His pride turned its nose at the thought of being a lesser opponent.

Her shrill voice that held an undertone of fear swept away any hesitation and his ears made the final decision. This human had been left to live far longer than his generosity allowed, _if_ he had any generosity to begin with. Nobody had ever stood up to this Sesshoumaru and she would be the last of her kind. His claws, still raised, now began glowing with his personal brand of poison. He would think of her when he had his rare moments of indulging in the past. Good riddance...

A red blur sped into his line of vision and he dropped the human girl while catching his brother's sword with delicate fingertips. Inuyasha growled at him, his fangs peeking out from panting lips.

"Ya bastard! You couldn't have waited 2 seconds?" Inuyasha snarled as he struck another blow at his brother. Sesshoumaru coolly stepped off to the side and grabbed Kagome by her collar once more, this time aiming his razor sharp claws at her throat.

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome sputtered. She had seen him die - all that blood spraying everywhere in a mix of rain and tears. Was she already dead and just seeing visions of ghosts? A snap of pain on her throat brought her back to her senses and reality. She turned her head up to Sesshoumaru who only looked calm and collected at the sight of his revived sibling. "But you killed him... You killed him." She said weakly. "I don't understand.."

"You couldn't have waited 2 more damned seconds to explain myself? I thought you said you would stop punching holes in my chest!"

"I said I would consider it. Seeing as how you failed the negotiations, it was the appropriate punishment to give." Sesshoumaru said. "One more move and I burn her head off."

"What's the point, you were going to kill me already." Kagome snapped, irritated that she was left out of the conversation. Things were moving way too fast for her and she was much too tired to keep up. "You didn't answer my question!"

"I see no reason to answer a question that was not asked." Sesshoumaru said, expressing his displeasure at her words by digging his claws a bit deeper. Kagome cried out and a flicker of her frail power slapped at Sesshoumaru's youki, causing him to flinch and that was all the time Inuyasha needed. He pulled something out from his sleeves and belted out a string of unfamiliar words. The air shrieked and lightning bolts of color flew towards the taiyoukai. Releasing Kagome, he leapt into the air to avoid the attack but the bolts hungrily followed his godlike speed. Kagome clutched her ears and looked up at the show of acrobatics with Sesshoumaru dodging the bolts of color with a chilling grace. An earth shattering bark cracked the sky and Sesshoumaru sent a blast of youki at Inuyasha who got knocked far away into a clump of bushes. A shimmery light began to gather at a point at Sesshoumaru's neck and he released a blast of fury and power just like when Kagome had lopped off his arm. As fast as the lights had appeared, they vanished, leaving a seemingly unharmed Sesshoumaru floating in the air. Kagome's hands fell from her ears and an uneasy silence fell over the forest.

"Kagome! Say a command!" Inuyasha yelled from the bushes he had crashed into.

"What?" She sputtered, trying to make sense of the chaotic situation. "Say a command to you?"

"No you idiot! Say a command of action! Tell him to do something!" Inuyasha cried impatiently as he ran to her. "Hurry up before he figures out what's going on!"

Sesshoumaru looked down at the primitive string of beads that had appeared at his neck and things quickly came together in his head. From his high vantage point in the sky, he honed in at the girl and took off at a breathtaking speed to stop something that would completely change his life.

Kagome felt herself getting flustered as Inuyasha kept telling her to hurry. It had been a long day and she had just been at death's door when Inuyasha had appeared, revived from the dead. Rather than a tearful reunion, he was yelling at her nonstop and she was getting a splitting headache from the combination of blood loss and general chaos. Command Sesshoumaru? The great lord of the West? The most powerful taiyoukai since his father and probably in all of history? "Yeah, sure, I'll command him to kiss me and bow at my feet." Kagome angrily poked Inuyasha in the chest. "You have no idea what I've been through these last few days becau-"

With a whoosh of air, Inuyasha was once more flying off to the side and Kagome's body was being wrapped around by a large, burning hot presence. Something hard crashed into hers lips, knocking painfully into her gums. She winced but the sound disappeared into the mouth that held hers. Time completely froze as Kagome's nerves processed the situation and slowly passed the message on to her brain, each particle as surprised as the next. Her arms finally reached up and pushed him away. She looked into his amber eyes which mirrored her own look of shock, and then proceeded to the next logical step.

She began to cry.

* * *

*Yes, I do know this is a super short chapter. But I figured you guys would need something to assure you that I am intent on continuing this story and that this is going somewhere. I'm very thankful of the readers who still remember this old story and are following it! Please review and cross your fingers that I can get another chapter out in the next month or so. I'm feeling the old excitement with this story. More details on the king and kikyo in the next chapter!


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